When comedienne Joan Rivers went into the Yorkville Endoscopy Clinic in New York for a routine procedure on her throat, no one expected that she would leave the place in full cardiac arrest. She passed away a week later on September 4th at the age of 81.
When a loved one passes away while in the care of medical doctors and other professionals the family’s first thought is often that something went terribly wrong – that the doctors made a mistake that resulted in the death of their family member.Melissa Rivers, daughter of the late comedy legend, has been guarding her family’s privacy and has not released many details about the circumstances surrounding her mother’s death. According to CNN, the autopsy was inconclusive about the cause of Joan Rivers’ death, but as details emerge we might expect to hear about a medical malpractice suit against the outpatient clinic.
How do you prove medical malpractice?
Accidents happen, and things can go wrong in a medical setting. Malpractice can include a host of errors from the failure to diagnose a disease, improperly performed medical procedures, failure to provide proper medical treatment, anesthesia errors, birth injuries and prescription errors to name a few. In the Rivers’ case there are all kinds of speculations about what might have caused the patient to go into cardiac arrest and stop breathing during the procedure. However, in order to win a medical malpractice lawsuit, you must be able to prove:
- The failed standard of care within the medical community in the location of the injury
- The health care provider failed to meet that standard of care (they breached the accepted standard)
- The patient suffered an injury due to the breach of the standard of care, and the negligence of the health care provider must be a contributing factor to the cause of the injury.
A medical malpractice claim requires lots of research, consultations with medical experts, reviewing medical records and conducting interviews. For this reason, it is vital that you contact a Knoxville medical malpractice attorney right away if you think that a medical professional has harmed you or a loved one. There is a one year statute of limitations in TN for these actions so any kind of delay can hinder your ability to take legal action.
If medical negligence was the cause of your or your loved one’s injury, give us a call and let us stand up for you against the insurance companies and fight for a fair settlement for you.
T. Scott knows the importance of interacting with colleagues to stay abreast of developments and changes in the legal world. T. Scott frequently teaches CLE courses on trial strategy, teaching other lawyers his methods for success in the courtroom, and is certified as a Rule 31 Mediator in the Tennessee Supreme Court. He is a member of the Knoxville Bar Association, the Tennessee Bar Association, the National Trial Lawyers, and both the Tennessee and American Associations for Justice.
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