Have You Suffered from a Surgical Error in New Mexico?

Have you suffered from a surgical error in New Mexico? You may be legally entitled to some compensation. One of the most common varieties of malpractice is surgical error. These mistakes can lead to prolonged or worsened conditions, increased medical bills, lost wages, and additional pain and suffering. To recover some of these costs, Carabin Shaw can help. Contact our New Mexico office today to discuss the possibility of a lawsuit.

Defining Surgical Error

If you believe that you have been the victim of medical malpractice in New Mexico, you might be interested in filing a lawsuit. To begin, you should know what, exactly, constitutes surgical error. For a mistake made in surgery to constitute malpractice, it must meet two conditions:

1. A competent and attentive clinician would not have made the error.
2. I should also be clear that the error caused injury.

An unavoidable surgical complication that causes injury is not malpractice. Additionally, a minor error that does not impact your health or well-being does not constitute medical negligence.

Before moving forward with a medical malpractice lawsuit, consider whether your injury is the result of the treatment you received. If it is, instead, an unavoidable consequence of the condition for which you were seeking treatment, your case won’t go far. However, if you believe you have a viable lawsuit contact one of our New Mexico medical malpractice lawyers to discuss the possibility of a lawsuit.

Types of Surgical Error

Surgical error is a broad category, as it constitutes any negligent mistake made during surgery that causes harm to the patient. Surgical error can come from breakdowns in communication, leading to operations on the wrong area of the body. It can also involve the incorrect procedure entirely. Mistakes like these typically result in additional complications and will lead to pain and suffering, as well as more medical expenses.

Anesthesiologists can also make mistakes that might result in lasting brain or nerve damage. Too little anesthesia can also cause a traumatic surgical experience. Surgeons leave medical tools in patients’ bodies with surprising frequency, which can lead to bleeding and infection. If any of these sound similar to what happened to you, a lawyer can help you file a claim.

Suing for Medical Malpractice in New Mexico

The statute of limitations for malpractice lawsuits in New Mexico is three years. Specifically, you have three years after the date of the instance of malpractice, not your discovery of it. For example, if an x-ray discovered a medical implement left in your body two years later, you would only have one year to act on your case. For this reason, you should look into New Mexico hospital negligence attorneys as soon as you suspect malpractice, or else you risk missing your opportunity entirely. A jury will also likely find your evidence more compelling the sooner you present your case.

What to Look For in a Malpractice Attorney

When looking for a personal injury lawyer, prioritize someone with knowledge, experience, and a record of dedication to their clients. If you sue the hospital, you will likely be up against the corporate lawyers that the hospital retains. Your attorney, then, should be experienced enough with surgical error cases like yours to handle this opposition ably. They should also know enough about your case to get you all of the compensation to which you are legally entitled—New Mexico recently removed the $600,000 cap on medical malpractice lawsuits. They should also be dedicated enough to get it.

Carabin Shaw’s team of lawyers specializing in medical malpractice in New Mexico has that experience, that knowledge, and that history of dedication. Contact our New Mexico medical malpractice lawyers today at 915-779-2301 or toll-free at 1-800-862-1260 to begin discussing your case.

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