East Providence Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Harmed by Medical Negligence in East Providence? Contact Us

Medical negligence can leave a patient facing additional treatment, lost income, lasting health problems, and questions about whether the harm could have been prevented.

An East Providence medical malpractice lawyer can review what happened, obtain the relevant medical records, and work with qualified medical experts to determine whether the care fell below accepted standards.

If the evidence supports a claim, an attorney can pursue compensation for the medical costs, lost earnings, pain and suffering, and other losses caused by the negligence.

This page explains how medical malpractice claims work in Rhode Island, what patients generally need to prove, and the deadlines that may apply.

Marasco & Nesselbush has represented patients and families across East Providence and throughout Rhode Island since 1999.

Marasco & Nesselbush: Representing Rhode Islanders Since 1999

Marasco & Nesselbush has represented injured Rhode Islanders since 1999, including patients and families affected by preventable medical errors.

A failure to diagnose, surgical mistake, medication error, or failure by doctors, nurses, or other medical staff to respond to a patient’s condition can result in serious and lasting harm.

Not every poor medical outcome is malpractice.

A potential claim generally depends on whether the care fell below accepted medical standards and whether that failure caused an injury that would not otherwise have occurred.

Our attorneys review medical records, work with qualified medical experts when appropriate, and assess whether the evidence supports legal action under Rhode Island law.

Medical malpractice is part of Marasco & Nesselbush’s broader personal injury law practice, which also includes catastrophic injury, birth injury, and wrongful death claims.

The firm has a proven track record of results, with more than $500 million recovered for injured clients and their families.

Our bilingual team works with clients in English or Spanish throughout the legal process.

Marasco & Nesselbush also offers free case reviews and handles qualifying medical malpractice claims on a contingency fee basis, meaning there are no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you.

If you or a loved one was harmed by suspected medical negligence in East Providence, our attorneys can obtain the records and review what happened.

Contact us today for a free consultation, or use the chat feature on this page to get in touch with our experienced East Providence medical malpractice attorneys.

Why East Providence Medical Malpractice Victims Choose Marasco & Nesselbush

Medical malpractice cases often require more specialized evidence than other personal injury claims because medical records and expert testimony may be necessary to establish what went wrong and how it caused harm.

Marasco & Nesselbush has represented injured Rhode Islanders since 1999 and has the resources to investigate medical negligence claims involving physicians, hospitals, medical practices, and other health care providers.

Clients choose Marasco & Nesselbush for:

• Experience since 1999: Marasco & Nesselbush has represented Rhode Island patients and families in medical malpractice and other serious personal injury cases for more than 25 years.
• Extensive experience in medical malpractice cases: Our attorneys understand how to evaluate whether treatment may have fallen below accepted medical standards and whether that failure caused additional harm.
• Thorough records review: We obtain and examine relevant medical records from the providers and facilities involved in a patient’s care.
• Access to qualified medical experts: When appropriate, our attorneys work with medical professionals who can evaluate the treatment provided and explain whether it met accepted standards of care.
• Rhode Island court experience: Our attorneys have substantial experience handling serious injury claims under Rhode Island law and in Rhode Island courts.
• Bilingual legal support: Our team communicates with clients in English or Spanish and explains the medical evidence, case strategy, and legal process in clear terms.

Every medical malpractice case depends on the treatment provided, the resulting injury, and the evidence available.

Our East Providence medical malpractice attorneys review those facts and determine whether the evidence supports a claim.

Our East Providence Medical Malpractice Lawyers Get Results

Marasco & Nesselbush has obtained substantial verdicts and settlements for patients and families harmed by medical negligence in Rhode Island.

Every case depends on its own facts, injuries, evidence, insurance coverage, and applicable law, and past results do not guarantee a similar outcome.

Examples of medical malpractice results obtained by our attorneys include:

• $9 Million Secured: Obtained for a client who suffered life-altering complications from medical negligence during and after a standard procedure.
• $8.49 Million Secured: Recovered for a client who suffered an avoidable amputation during a knee replacement operation.
• $7.27 Million Jury Verdict: Achieved for a client who suffered life-altering injuries after a hospital team failed to treat a stroke in time.
• $3 Million Recovered: Awarded to the family of an infant who died as a result of medical negligence.
• $3 Million Settlement: Reached for a client left with permanent disabling injuries following a negligent neck operation.
• $2.05 Million Recovered: Secured for the family of a man who died following the negligent administration of anesthesia.
• $1.5 Million Secured: Won for a family after a hospital was held liable for a wrongful death involving a brain injury that went undiagnosed.

Additional verdicts and settlements are available on our case results page.

What Is Medical Malpractice in Rhode Island?

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other health care provider fails to meet the applicable standard of care and that failure causes a patient additional harm.

In Rhode Island, medical professionals are generally expected to provide the level of care and skill that a reasonably competent practitioner would provide under similar circumstances.

The applicable medical standards can vary depending on the treatment, the patient’s condition, and the information available to the provider at the time.

Medical negligence can involve an improper action or a failure to act.

Examples may include failing to diagnose a condition, making an avoidable surgical error, administering the wrong medication, or failing to properly evaluate serious symptoms such as head injuries.

A patient must also establish that the provider’s departure from accepted practices in the medical community caused or contributed to the injury.

A serious medical outcome alone does not establish malpractice because harm can occur even when appropriate care is provided.

Is It Malpractice When a Known Complication Occurs?

A known complication does not, by itself, mean that medical malpractice occurred.

Rhode Island law acknowledges that doctors cannot guarantee a successful treatment outcome and that some complications can occur even when reasonable medical care is provided.

The question is whether the provider acted appropriately based on the patient’s history, symptoms, test results, and other information available at the time.

A potential claim may exist if the provider failed to meet accepted medical standards and that failure caused additional harm.

For example, a complication may support a malpractice claim if it resulted from an avoidable surgical error or if medical staff failed to recognize and treat the complication appropriately after it developed.

Determining whether negligence occurred generally requires examining the treatment provided, the medical records, and the circumstances surrounding the patient’s injury.

Types of Medical Malpractice in Rhode Island

Medical malpractice can arise from many different forms of negligent medical care.

In each case, a patient generally must show that a medical professional failed to meet accepted standards of care and that the provider’s negligence caused additional injury.

Diagnostic errors are among the most common issues involved in malpractice claims.

According to a Johns Hopkins review of 350,706 paid malpractice claims, diagnostic errors accounted for 28.6% of the claims and 35.2% of the total payouts.

A missed or delayed diagnosis can postpone necessary treatment, while a misdiagnosis may expose a patient to medications, procedures, or other treatments that were not needed.

Common types of medical malpractice include:

• Failure to diagnose: A doctor fails to order appropriate testing, overlooks symptoms, or misreads diagnostic results, potentially leading to a delayed diagnosis, delayed treatment, and a worse outcome.
• Cancer misdiagnosis: A failure to properly diagnose cancer may allow an existing disease to progress before treatment begins. Cancer misdiagnosis claims may involve failures to diagnose cancer or delays involving conditions such as lung, colon, or cervical cancer.
• Surgical errors: Examples may include wrong site surgery, operating on the wrong limb, damaging surrounding tissue, or leaving a surgical instrument inside a patient.
• Medication errors: Errors can occur at any stage of the medication process, including prescribing, dispensing, administering, or monitoring a drug. A patient may receive the wrong medication, an incorrect dose, or a drug that conflicts with a known allergy.
• Emergency room errors: An emergency room error may involve improper triage, failure to order appropriate tests, an incorrect diagnosis, or discharge before a serious condition such as a heart attack is recognized. These errors can significantly worsen a patient’s condition when necessary treatment is delayed.
• Failure to monitor: Doctors, nurses, and other medical staff may fail to respond to worsening vital signs, infection, internal bleeding, or other indications that a patient’s condition is deteriorating. A failure to monitor and intervene can lead to serious complications.
• Birth injuries: Negligent prenatal care, delayed delivery, or failure to respond to fetal distress may contribute to oxygen deprivation and conditions such as cerebral palsy or other lasting birth injuries.
• Anesthesia errors: Incorrect dosing, failure to review a patient’s medical history, or inadequate monitoring during anesthesia can result in brain injury, organ damage, or other serious injuries.
• Lack of informed consent: Medical providers generally must explain material or serious risks and reasonable treatment alternatives so a patient can make an informed decision about care.

These are only some of the circumstances that may give rise to a malpractice claim.

A medical professional can be held liable when negligent conduct falls below the applicable standard of care and causes patient injury, while responsibility may also extend to hospitals, medical practices, or other health care entities depending on the circumstances.

Who May Be Held Responsible for Medical Malpractice in Rhode Island?

Responsibility for medical malpractice depends on who provided the negligent care and whether that conduct caused the patient’s injury.

Some cases involve a single medical professional, while others may involve several healthcare professionals, medical facilities, or organizations that participated in the patient’s treatment.

For example, a missed diagnosis may involve the treating physician, a radiologist, or another provider responsible for reviewing test results.

Failure to diagnose cancer can lead to delayed treatment and worse outcomes, while other diagnostic errors or misdiagnoses may result in unnecessary treatment.

Parties who may be held responsible for medical malpractice include:

• Treating physicians: Doctors may be liable when negligent diagnosis, treatment, surgery, prescribing, or monitoring falls below accepted medical standards and causes harm.
• Nurses and clinical staff: Nurses, physician assistants, technicians, and other clinical staff may be responsible for medication errors, failures to monitor, or delays in responding to a worsening medical condition. Failure to monitor a patient can lead to serious complications when warning signs are missed.
• Hospitals and medical facilities: A hospital may face liability for its own negligent policies, staffing, credentialing, or supervision, and may also be responsible for negligent care provided by certain employees or agents.
• Medical groups and practices: A medical practice may share responsibility when a provider commits malpractice while acting within the scope of employment or another applicable agency relationship.
• Pharmacies and pharmacists: Medication errors can occur when the wrong drug or dose is dispensed, when a known interaction is overlooked, or when other professional standards are not followed.
• Laboratories and imaging providers: Diagnostic providers may be responsible when test results are misread, delayed, or not properly communicated. These errors can contribute to a delayed diagnosis and delayed treatment.
• Emergency room providers: Emergency room errors may involve improper triage, missed symptoms, diagnostic mistakes, or premature discharge. These failures can significantly worsen a patient’s condition when urgent treatment is delayed.
• Nursing homes and rehabilitation facilities: Long-term care and rehabilitation providers may be responsible for negligent medical care involving medication errors, pressure injuries, falls, or failures to respond when a resident’s condition deteriorates.

More than one person or organization may share responsibility for the same injury.

A medical malpractice attorney can review the medical records, employment relationships, and circumstances of the treatment to determine which providers or medical facilities may be legally responsible.

What Must Be Proven in a Rhode Island Medical Malpractice Case?

To prove liability in a Rhode Island medical malpractice case, an injured patient generally must establish duty, breach, causation, and damages.

Medical records and expert testimony often play an important role in showing what treatment was provided, what a reasonably competent medical practitioner should have done, and how the patient was harmed.

To recover compensation, an injured patient generally must prove the following 4 elements:

• Duty of care: A doctor patient relationship existed, creating a legal duty for the provider to meet the applicable professional standard of care.
• Breach of the standard of care: The medical practitioner failed to provide the level of care expected from a reasonably competent provider under the same or similar circumstances.
• Causation: The breach caused or contributed to the injury for which the patient is seeking compensation, rather than the harm resulting solely from the underlying medical condition.
• Damages: The patient suffered measurable losses because of the injury, which may include additional medical treatment, lost income, pain and suffering, permanent disability, or wrongful death.

Evidence from the period before and after the injury occurred can help establish what the provider knew, how the treatment was handled, and what harm followed.

A malpractice claim generally cannot succeed if one of these required elements is missing.

Expert Testimony in Rhode Island Malpractice Claims

Expert testimony is generally required in Rhode Island medical malpractice cases because questions about the applicable standard of care and medical causation often fall outside the knowledge of an ordinary juror.

Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-19-41, a person may provide expert testimony if their knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education qualifies them as an expert in the field of the alleged malpractice.

Rhode Island law does not require the expert to practice in the same medical specialty as the defendant.

The relevant question is whether the expert is sufficiently qualified to address the medical issue involved in the claim.

An expert may be asked to explain the appropriate standard of care, whether the provider departed from that standard, and whether the departure caused the patient’s injury.

Depending on the issues involved, more than one type of expert may be used to address different medical or damages questions.

A limited exception may apply when the alleged negligence is so obvious that an ordinary person can recognize it without specialized medical knowledge, such as certain cases involving a foreign object left inside a patient. Rhode Island courts generally apply this exception narrowly.

Medical records and other evidence are central to the expert review, so obtaining a complete picture of the patient’s treatment is an important part of evaluating a potential malpractice claim.

What Should You Do if You Suspect Medical Malpractice?

If you suspect that a medical error caused additional harm, your immediate health needs should come first.

It can also be helpful to preserve information about the treatment while records, communications, and details about what happened are still readily available.

After a suspected medical error in East Providence, consider taking the following steps:

• Seek appropriate medical care: Obtain treatment for any ongoing or worsening condition and follow reasonable medical advice about your recovery.
• Request your medical records: Ask the providers involved in your care for relevant physician notes, imaging, laboratory results, medication records, discharge instructions, and other available records. Federal law generally gives patients the right to access their protected health information maintained in designated record sets.
• Document what happened: Write down important dates, symptoms, conversations with medical staff, and the sequence of treatment while the details are still fresh.
• Preserve relevant documents: Keep copies of discharge instructions, prescriptions, medical bills, patient portal communications, test results, and other materials related to your care.
• Be cautious with releases or settlement documents: Read documents carefully before signing anything that could release legal claims or resolve a dispute involving the treatment.
• Discuss evidence preservation with an attorney: In appropriate cases, an attorney may take steps to request that potentially relevant medical records, electronic information, or other evidence be preserved.
• Speak with a medical malpractice attorney: An attorney can review the circumstances, identify records that may be important, and determine whether further investigation is appropriate.

Medical malpractice claims often depend heavily on medical records, expert review, and evidence showing how the patient’s condition changed after the alleged error.

Taking reasonable steps to preserve that information can make it easier to evaluate what happened.

Our Rhode Island medical malpractice attorneys can review the circumstances and explain what records or additional information may be useful in evaluating a potential claim.

Evidence in a Medical Malpractice Claim

Medical malpractice cases often depend on records showing what care was provided, what medical professionals knew at the time, and how the patient’s condition changed after the alleged error.

Other evidence may be used to establish whether the care fell below accepted standards and what losses resulted from the injury.

Evidence used in a medical malpractice claim may include:

• Medical records: Physician notes, nursing records, operative reports, discharge summaries, test results, and other medical documentation can help establish the treatment provided and the patient’s condition before and after the alleged negligence.
• Diagnostic imaging and pathology: X-rays, CT scans, MRIs, pathology slides, and laboratory findings may show when signs of a condition such as lung cancer or colon cancer were present. Qualified medical experts can evaluate whether those findings should have led to an earlier diagnosis or different treatment.
• Electronic audit trails: Electronic health record metadata may show when entries were created, accessed, modified, or added to a patient’s chart and can help clarify the timing of documentation.
• Medication records: Prescribing records, pharmacy logs, and medication administration records can help identify an incorrect drug, improper dose, missed allergy, or failure to administer medication as ordered.
• Hospital policies and protocols: Internal policies concerning monitoring, communication, escalation, or other aspects of patient care may provide relevant context when evaluating how treatment was handled, although they do not automatically establish the legal standard of care.
• Expert testimony: Expert testimony is generally required to establish whether a provider departed from the applicable standard of care and whether that departure caused the patient’s injury. The expert must be qualified in the relevant field based on knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education.
• Damages documentation: Medical bills, employment records, tax documents, vocational evidence, and other records may help establish losses such as medical expenses, lost income, reduced earning capacity, and future care needs.

Additional evidence may be important depending on the type of treatment, the providers involved, and the injury that followed.

A medical malpractice attorney can identify which records and expert reviews may be needed to evaluate a particular claim.

Rhode Island Medical Malpractice Laws

Rhode Island has several laws that can affect how a medical malpractice claim is evaluated and how compensation is determined.

A medical malpractice lawyer should be familiar with Rhode Island court rules and statutes and how they apply to the specific providers and circumstances involved in a claim.

Important Rhode Island medical malpractice laws include:

• No general cap on malpractice damages: Rhode Island law does not impose a general statutory cap on economic or non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases against private health care providers. Compensation may include medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, permanent disability, and other losses supported by the evidence.
• Limits on certain claims against public entities: R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-31-2 generally limits damages in tort claims against the State of Rhode Island to $100,000, while § 9-31-3 establishes a similar limit for cities, towns, and fire districts. Exceptions may apply when the public entity was engaged in a proprietary function.
• Pure comparative negligence: Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-20-4, a patient’s share of fault does not automatically prevent recovery. Instead, compensation may be reduced in proportion to the percentage of negligence attributed to the patient.
• Collateral-source evidence: R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-19-34.1 allows certain evidence of insurance or other benefits received by a patient to be considered in qualifying medical malpractice cases and provides rules for how those benefits may affect a damages award.

The laws that apply can depend on who provided the treatment, where the care occurred, and the circumstances surrounding the injury.

An attorney can determine which Rhode Island rules may affect a particular medical malpractice claim.

Deadlines for Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim in Rhode Island

Rhode Island generally requires a medical malpractice lawsuit to be filed within three years of the incident that gave rise to the claim.

However, R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14.1 provides exceptions that can affect when the filing period begins or ends.

If the malpractice or resulting injury could not reasonably have been discovered when it occurred, Rhode Island’s discovery rule generally allows three years from the time the malpractice should have been discovered through reasonable diligence.

Different rules may also apply in certain circumstances:

• Claims involving minors: If no action is brought on behalf of an injured minor within the ordinary three-year period, Rhode Island law generally allows the minor to bring the claim at any time up to age 21.
• Claims involving certain disabilities: A person who is unable to bring a claim because of mental incompetence or another qualifying disability may generally have three years from the removal of that disability.
• Wrongful death claims: Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 10-7-2, a wrongful death action generally must be filed within three years of the person’s death. If the wrongful act that caused the death was not known at the time, a separate discovery rule may apply.

The deadline in a particular case depends on the patient’s circumstances and when the injury or alleged malpractice was or reasonably should have been discovered.

Because filing a lawsuit after the applicable statute of limitations has expired can prevent the claim from moving forward, an injured patient or family should have the deadline evaluated as early as possible.

Do You Qualify for a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?

You may have grounds for a Rhode Island medical malpractice lawsuit if a health care provider failed to meet the applicable standard of care and that failure caused you additional injury or worsened your medical condition.

A poor treatment outcome alone does not establish malpractice.

The available medical records and, in many cases, a qualified expert review are used to determine whether the care was negligent and whether that negligence caused the harm.

Factors that may support a medical malpractice claim include:

• A provider-patient relationship existed: A doctor, hospital, nurse, or other health care provider was responsible for providing or participating in your care.
• The care fell below accepted medical standards: The provider failed to act as a reasonably competent medical professional would have acted under similar circumstances.
• The negligence caused additional harm: The medical error caused a new injury, worsened an existing condition, delayed necessary treatment, or otherwise affected your health.
• You suffered compensable losses: The injury resulted in losses such as additional medical expenses, lost income, pain and suffering, permanent disability, or other damages.
• The claim is filed within the applicable deadline: Rhode Island imposes time limits on medical malpractice lawsuits, although exceptions may apply in certain circumstances.

More than one provider or medical facility may share responsibility depending on how the treatment was delivered. Determining liability can require reviewing the medical evidence as well as the relationships among the physicians, hospitals, and other providers involved.

Our attorneys can review the circumstances during a free consultation and explain whether the available evidence may support a claim.

Our Rhode Island medical malpractice practice represents patients in East Providence and throughout the state.

Potential Damages in an East Providence Medical Malpractice Case

Rhode Island allows recovery for both economic and non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases.

The compensation available depends on the nature and severity of the injury, the treatment required, the effect on the patient’s ability to work and live independently, and other losses caused by the medical negligence.

Rhode Island residents who establish a valid malpractice claim may be able to recover compensation for:

• Medical expenses: Compensation may cover corrective surgery, hospitalization, medication, rehabilitation, therapy, and other treatment made necessary by the injury.
• Future medical expenses: Patients with permanent injuries, brain damage, or other serious conditions may require ongoing treatment, home care, medical equipment, or other long-term support.
• Lost income: A patient may recover wages or other earnings lost while receiving treatment or recovering from the injury.
• Loss of earning capacity: When a permanent injury affects a person’s ability to return to the same work or earn the same income, compensation may account for future lost earnings.
• Pain and suffering: Victims can recover compensation for physical pain, discomfort, and the lasting effects of an avoidable medical injury.
• Emotional distress and loss of enjoyment of life: Serious injuries may affect a patient’s independence, mental well-being, relationships, hobbies, and everyday activities.
• Permanent disability, disfigurement, and scarring: Compensation may reflect lasting physical limitations or visible injuries caused by the malpractice.
• Loss of consortium: A spouse may have a separate claim for certain losses affecting the marital relationship.
• Wrongful death damages: When medical negligence results in death, Rhode Island law allows certain damages to be pursued through a wrongful death action under R.I. Gen. Laws chapter 10-7.
• Punitive damages: In rare cases involving conduct substantially more serious than ordinary negligence, punitive damages may be available under Rhode Island law.

The value of a medical malpractice claim depends on the evidence supporting both the injury and the resulting losses.

Medical records, bills, employment records, expert testimony, and evidence concerning future care needs may all be used to assess compensation.

Many personal injury and medical malpractice firms, including Marasco & Nesselbush, offer free initial consultations.

An attorney can review the circumstances of the injury and explain which categories of damages may apply to a particular claim.

How Marasco & Nesselbush Investigates Medical Malpractice

Marasco & Nesselbush investigates medical malpractice claims by reviewing the treatment provided, the resulting injury, and the evidence available to establish negligence and damages.

Our attorneys obtain relevant medical records and develop a timeline of the patient’s symptoms, testing, treatment, and important medical decisions.

When appropriate, a qualified medical professional reviews those records to determine whether the care met accepted medical standards and whether any departure from those standards caused additional harm.

If the evidence supports a claim, our attorneys identify the responsible providers, document the patient’s losses, and determine the appropriate strategy for pursuing compensation.

Depending on the case, this may involve settlement negotiations or filing a lawsuit and obtaining additional evidence through the discovery process.

Serious injury cases may also require additional experts, such as life care planners, economists, or vocational professionals, to evaluate future medical needs, lost earning capacity, and other long-term losses.

Our trial lawyers prepare medical malpractice claims with the evidence needed to support liability and damages, whether the case is resolved through negotiation or proceeds through litigation.

The appropriate approach depends on the medical evidence, the injuries involved, and the circumstances of each individual claim.

Marasco & Nesselbush: Talk to an East Providence Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Marasco & Nesselbush has provided legal representation to injured Rhode Island residents since 1999, including patients and families affected by medical negligence involving physicians, hospitals, and other healthcare providers.

Our attorneys review medical records, work with qualified medical professionals when appropriate, and evaluate whether the evidence supports a malpractice claim under Rhode Island law.

We also explain the legal options available and what a potential claim may involve before a client decides how to proceed.

Marasco & Nesselbush handles qualifying medical malpractice cases on a contingency fee basis, meaning there are no attorney fees unless we recover compensation for you.

Our bilingual team works with clients in English and Spanish throughout the legal process.

Clients can meet with our team at our law office in East Providence, and we represent injured patients throughout Rhode Island.

If you or a loved one was harmed by suspected medical negligence, contact Marasco & Nesselbush for a free consultation or use the chat feature on this page to speak with an East Providence medical malpractice lawyer about your legal options.