Paramus Medical Malpractice Attorneys

Proven trial lawyers pursue full, fair compensation against negligent healthcare providers

When you seek medical treatment from a certified provider, you have the right to expect care that is compassionate and capable. Unfortunately, too many patients in New Jersey receive substandard care that actually inflicts greater harm than the condition they want treated. If you’ve been harmed by a healthcare provider’s negligence, you deserve full personal injury compensation. However, obtaining that relief can be a complex process, and getting the full measure of compensation you deserve is virtually impossible without quality legal representation. At Razi & Giampa Law in Paramus, we have the skill to take on powerful defendants, including the largest corporate healthcare consortiums. We understand the tactics these defendants use to wear plaintiffs down and get them to accept low settlements. We are proven trial lawyers with track record of success, and we are determined to deliver the results you deserve.

Types of medical malpractice in New Jersey

Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider performs below professional standards and that performance injures a patient. Put simply, it means the provider made a mistake that a reasonable competent and conscientious provider would not have made, and that mistake caused harm.

Medical mistakes happen far too often. In fact, researchers at Johns Hopkins University have called medical errors the third leading cause of death in the United States. Any practitioner can make a mistake that harms a patient, including:

• Internists and GPs
• Surgeons
• Anesthetists
• Dentists
• Nurses and nurse practitioners
• Pharmacists
• Chiropractors
• Radiologists
• Obstetricians

Frequent mistakes include:

• Missed and delayed diagnoses
• Surgical errors
• Anesthesia errors
• Medication errors
• Failure to order diagnostic testing
• Misreading results of testing
• Failure to monitor post-surgical patients
• Causing infection
• Birth injury

A malpractice claim must prove by a preponderance of the evidence that:

• An error was made
• The error was of a type that a reasonable practitioner would not have made
• The error caused harm to the patient

Your malpractice claim requires thorough investigation to ascertain the facts of what happened. Then, those facts must be presented to a medical expert for an opinion on the level of care the patient received and whether the injury is due to the error or another independent factor. Because of the complexities involved, you should only trust your case to an experienced attorney who is ready to do the difficult work of building your case.

NJ statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims

NJ law allows an injured patient to bring an action for malpractice within two years of the injury event. However, medical malpractice often involves latent injuries that take time to become apparent to the patient, who might not immediately attribute the injury to a medical error. In such cases, New Jersey uses the discovery rule, which means that the two-year statutory period does not begin until the patient knows (or reasonably should have known) that a medical error has caused injury.

Affidavits of merit in NJ malpractice cases

Another requirement for the injured patient is to submit an Affidavit of Merit. This is a sworn statement by a licensed medical professional in a related field of care that there is reason to suspect that medical malpractice has occurred. So, after the plaintiff patient files the lawsuit, the defendant healthcare provider files a response, and the plaintiff has 60 days to file the affidavit.

If the plaintiff does not file the affidavit within the time allotted, the court can dismiss the lawsuit with prejudice, meaning the plaintiff cannot refile.

Damages available in NJ medical malpractice cases

Injured patients are entitled to recover their economic and noneconomic losses, such as:

• Present and future medical bills
• Present and future lost earnings
• Compensation for physical pain and mental suffering

New Jersey does not cap pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice cases. However, if the defendant’s conduct has been particularly egregious, allowing you to pursue punitive damages, NJ law does cap those amounts. Medical malpractice punitive damages are limited to $350,000 or five times the amount of compensatory damages, whichever is greater.

Successful medical malpractice claims require meticulous preparation to build the most compelling case possible. That is the level of representation we promise at Razi & Giampa Law.

Contact Razi & Giampa Law in Paramus for a free medical malpractice consultation

Razi & Giampa Law in Paramus provides highly professional and compassionate legal services for victims of medical malpractice in Bergen County and throughout New Jersey. To schedule a free consultation, call us today at 201-534-5011 or contact our firm online.