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Injured by Medical Negligence in Wakefield? Marasco & Nesselbush Can Help
A missed diagnosis, surgical error, or delayed response to a medical emergency can cause serious injuries, permanent disabilities, or death.
Patients may require additional treatment and rehabilitation for complications that could have been prevented with appropriate care.
The consequences are not always immediately apparent.
Some patients learn that something went wrong only after another physician reviews their test results or identifies a complication that should have been addressed earlier.
Under Rhode Island law, a medical malpractice claim may arise when a medical provider fails to meet the applicable standard of care and causes harm that reasonable treatment could have prevented or reduced.
At Marasco & Nesselbush, our Wakefield medical malpractice attorneys investigate suspected negligence, work with qualified medical professionals to evaluate the care provided, and help patients seek compensation for additional medical expenses, lost income, and other losses.
Contact Marasco & Nesselbush for a free consultation about a possible medical malpractice claim.
We handle qualifying cases on a contingency fee basis, so you do not owe an attorney fee unless compensation is recovered.
Why Choose Marasco & Nesselbush for a Medical Malpractice Claim?
Marasco & Nesselbush has represented injured Rhode Islanders since 1999, and we have a proven track record seeking compensation for victims of medical negligence.
Our attorneys have more than 350 years of combined legal experience, and the firm has recovered over $500 million for clients across its practice areas.
Our law firm has extensive experience in personal injury law, including claims involving delayed treatment, surgical errors, anesthesia mistakes, birth injuries, and fatal medical negligence.
Our attorneys have taken medical malpractice claims to trial, including cases involving delayed stroke treatment and permanent neurological injuries.
Malpractice claims require careful examination of the patient history, hospital protocols, treatment decisions, and whether appropriate care would probably have prevented or reduced the harm.
Our attorneys review medical records, consult qualified physician experts when appropriate, and evaluate whether the hospital or other health care providers should be held accountable.
Our attorneys prepare medical malpractice claims for settlement negotiations and trial, using medical records and qualified expert opinions to establish negligent treatment and the resulting injuries.
Patients and families in Wakefield, Peace Dale, Narragansett, and surrounding South County communities can meet with our team at the Wakefield office, 231 Old Tower Hill Road, Suite 206.
English- and Spanish-language assistance is available.
What Qualifies as Medical Malpractice in Rhode Island?
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider’s care falls below the professional standard required under the circumstances and causes injury to a patient.
A poor outcome does not, by itself, prove negligence.
An illness may worsen despite appropriate treatment, and even a properly performed procedure can carry serious risks, including bleeding, infection, or injury to surrounding tissue.
The question is whether a reasonably competent medical practitioner providing comparable care would have acted differently based on the information available at the time.
Rhode Island assesses professional care against recognized standards, rather than treating the customs of one local medical community as the only measure of acceptable treatment.
For example, a patient may develop an infection after surgery without anyone having acted negligently.
A separate issue arises if medical staff overlook clear signs of infection, fail to order appropriate tests, or delay necessary treatment, allowing the patient’s condition to deteriorate.
What Must Be Proven in a Medical Malpractice Case?
Rhode Island requires proof of four elements to establish negligence and recover compensation in a medical malpractice case:
- Duty of care: A doctor-patient relationship or another recognized treatment relationship generally establishes the provider’s legal responsibility to exercise appropriate professional care.
- Breach: The provider failed to meet the professional standard of care when diagnosing, treating, or monitoring the patient.
- Causation: The failure caused additional injury or worsened the patient’s condition. Proof that an injury occurred after treatment is not enough without evidence connecting it to the breach.
- Damages: The patient sustained compensable losses, such as additional medical expenses, lost earnings, pain, or lasting disability.
Causation can be particularly difficult to establish when a patient already had a serious condition before the suspected error. To prove liability, medical opinions may need to distinguish the original illness from the additional harm caused by negligent health care.
A delayed cancer diagnosis, for example, may require medical evidence showing that an earlier diagnosis probably would have changed the course of treatment or prevented some of the harm.
Injured and not sure what your case is worth? Find out for free.
Common Types of Medical Malpractice
Medical negligence may occur in emergency departments, physician offices, hospitals, operating rooms, or during follow-up care. The recognized risks of a procedure do not excuse a failure to respond to serious warning signs.
Potential medical malpractice claims include:
- Diagnostic errors and cancer misdiagnosis: A clinician may overlook symptoms, fail to order diagnostic tests, or misinterpret results, delaying treatment for conditions such as lung cancer, colon cancer, prostate cancer, or cervical cancer. A late diagnosis is not necessarily negligent; the evidence must show that timely evaluation was required and would probably have changed the outcome.
- Emergency room negligence: A delayed assessment, inadequate monitoring, missed head injuries, or failure to recognize a stroke, heart attack, or serious infection may result in preventable harm.
- Surgical errors: Wrong-site surgery, including operating on the wrong limb, leaving surgical instruments inside a patient, or negligently damaging surrounding organs or tissue, can cause severe injuries requiring corrective treatment and long-term care.
- Anesthesia errors: Mistakes involving medication, airway management, patient monitoring, or responses to declining oxygen levels may cause neurological injury or other serious complications.
- Medication and pharmacy errors: Prescribing or giving the wrong medication, administering an incorrect dose, or failing to account for a documented allergy may cause avoidable injury.
- Birth injuries and obstetrical negligence: Failures involving fetal monitoring, responses to distress, delivery decisions, or the use of instruments may harm a mother or child. Some claims involve neurological injuries or cerebral palsy, but a diagnosis alone does not establish that negligent care caused the condition.
- Inadequate monitoring or follow-up: Missed laboratory results, unaddressed postoperative symptoms, or poor communication among clinicians may delay treatment when a patient’s condition is worsening.
Who Can Be Responsible for Medical Negligence?
A patient may receive care from several providers during a single visit, hospitalization, or course of treatment.
Each provider’s responsibilities must be examined separately, particularly when an injury involves missed test results or a delay in communicating urgent information among different health care providers.
Depending on the circumstances, responsible parties may include:
- Physicians and surgeons: Errors involving diagnosis, treatment decisions, procedures, or postoperative care.
- Nurses and other clinical staff: Negligent medication administration, patient monitoring, or failure to communicate important changes in a patient’s condition.
- Hospitals and medical facilities: Responsibility for negligent acts of qualifying employees or for independent failures involving staffing, supervision, communication, or patient-safety procedures.
- Medical groups and specialists: Radiology, anesthesiology, pathology, and other providers whose services contribute to diagnosis or treatment.
- Pharmacies and laboratories: Errors in dispensing medications, processing specimens, reporting results, or conveying critical findings.
A hospital is not automatically responsible for every physician who treats a patient in its facility.
Whether a facility may be held liable depends on the relationship between the provider and hospital, the circumstances of the patient’s treatment, and the legal basis for the claim.
Medical Records and Expert Testimony in a Malpractice Claim
Medical malpractice investigations require more than a patient’s recollection of the treatment received.
The records may show when a concerning symptom was reported, when diagnostic tests became available, who reviewed them, and whether follow-up medical treatment was ordered.
Important evidence may include:
- Medical histories and physician notes: Document the patient history, reported symptoms, examination findings, diagnostic decisions, and recommended treatment.
- Laboratory reports and imaging: Show findings that may have been overlooked, misinterpreted, or communicated too late.
- Nursing and monitoring records: Record changes in vital signs, patient observations, and responses to deterioration.
- Medication records: Identify prescriptions, administered doses, timing, and potential medication errors.
- Operative and anesthesia records: Describe procedures, patient monitoring, complications, and the care provided during recovery.
- Subsequent treatment records: Document corrective procedures, lasting injuries, rehabilitation, and medical needs arising after the suspected error.
Electronic record audit information may also be relevant when the timing of an entry or an amendment is disputed.
An audit timestamp alone, however, does not prove that a healthcare provider acted negligently.
When Are Medical Experts Necessary?
Rhode Island medical malpractice claims generally require qualified expert testimony to establish the professional standard of care and whether it was breached.
Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-19-41, an expert must have relevant knowledge, skill, experience, training, or education in the field of the alleged malpractice.
A qualified medical specialist may review the patient’s records, identify departures from accepted professional standards, and explain whether those failures caused additional harm.
There are narrow exceptions when the alleged lack of care is obvious to someone without medical training, but most disputed diagnoses and treatment decisions require expert evaluation.
Rhode Island Medical Malpractice Laws and Filing Deadlines
The deadline for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit may depend on when the negligent treatment occurred, when the patient reasonably could have discovered it, and whether special statutory rules apply.
How Long Do You Have to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
Under R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-1-14.1, a medical malpractice lawsuit generally must be filed within three years of the incident giving rise to the claim.
The statute also provides a discovery exception when the alleged malpractice could not have been discovered through reasonable diligence at the time it occurred.
In those circumstances, the three-year period is measured from when the malpractice should reasonably have been discovered.
A patient does not necessarily receive a fresh three-year deadline simply because another doctor later expresses a different opinion about the earlier care.
The information available to the patient and the timing of reasonable discovery must be evaluated carefully.
Requesting medical records, filing a hospital complaint, or discussing a settlement does not automatically stop the legal filing deadline.
Special Filing Rules for Injured Children
Rhode Island law provides a separate filing rule for certain minors with medical malpractice injuries.
A parent or guardian may bring a claim on the child’s behalf within the applicable three-year period following the incident or reasonable discovery.
If a parent or guardian does not file a claim within the applicable three-year period, the injured child generally has until age 21 to bring the lawsuit personally after turning 18.
A parent or guardian cannot rely on that extension to postpone filing a claim on the child’s behalf beyond the applicable three-year period.
Are Medical Malpractice Damages Capped in Rhode Island?
Rhode Island does not impose a general statutory cap on compensatory damages in medical malpractice cases against private doctors and hospitals.
Different limitations may apply when a claim involves a public defendant.
For example, R.I. Gen. Laws § 9-31-2 generally places a $100,000 limit on certain tort damages against the state, subject to statutory exceptions.
The identity of the defendant and the nature of the claim must be considered before assuming that any damages limitation applies.
Compensation for Injuries Caused by Medical Malpractice
Rhode Island allows recovery for both economic and non-economic damages when negligent medical care causes injury. A patient may seek compensation for losses attributable to the error, not simply every expense associated with the original illness.
Depending on the evidence, recoverable damages may include:
- Additional medical expenses: Hospital care, corrective surgery, medication, and rehabilitation required because of the negligent treatment.
- Future medical expenses: Further treatment, in-home assistance, medical equipment, and anticipated rehabilitation for lasting injuries.
- Lost wages: Income missed because the malpractice injury required more treatment or time away from work.
- Reduced earning capacity: Future earnings lost when permanent injuries limit the patient’s ability to work.
- Pain and suffering: Additional physical pain, emotional distress, loss of independence, and interference with ordinary activities caused by the negligent care.
- Permanent disability or disfigurement: Long-term neurological injuries, loss of function, scarring, and other lasting consequences supported by medical evidence.
When an error causes death, the legally authorized representative may be able to pursue a wrongful death claim.
In a complex case, medical and financial specialists may be needed to distinguish the effects of the original medical condition from those resulting from improper care.
What to Do if You Suspect Medical Malpractice in Wakefield
Unexpected complications do not necessarily indicate medical negligence.
If your symptoms worsen or you have unanswered questions about your treatment, seek appropriate medical care and consider an independent medical opinion.
If you suspect a medical error caused additional harm, consider these steps:
- Address urgent medical needs. Seek prompt assessment for worsening symptoms, new complications, or conditions that remain untreated.
- Seek another medical opinion when appropriate. An independent provider can assess your current condition and recommend treatment without determining legal liability.
- Request your medical records. Obtain available consultation notes, test results, imaging reports, operative records, prescriptions, and discharge instructions.
- Prepare a timeline. Record appointment dates, symptoms, diagnoses, test findings, treatment changes, and relevant discussions with medical staff.
- Preserve related documents. Keep patient portal messages, medication containers, billing records, and other materials connected to the suspected error.
- Document additional losses. Retain records of new treatment expenses, missed work, rehabilitation, and changes in daily activities.
- Speak with a medical malpractice lawyer. An attorney can evaluate the relevant deadlines, identify potential defendants, and determine whether expert review is appropriate.
A patient who remains hospitalized or cannot obtain records independently may ask a trusted family member or legally authorized representative to help.
Talk to a lawyer and get a free case evaluation today.
Talk to a Wakefield Medical Malpractice Lawyer at Marasco & Nesselbush
Suspected medical negligence can involve hundreds of pages of records, several healthcare providers, and disputed explanations for a patient’s worsening condition.
Marasco & Nesselbush investigates the treatment history, obtains appropriate medical expert review, assesses injuries attributable to negligent care, and pursues claims against responsible providers and institutions when the evidence supports legal action.
Our Wakefield office provides patients and families in South County with local access to a firm experienced in serious medical injury and wrongful death matters.
Contact Marasco & Nesselbush for a free consultation with a Wakefield medical malpractice lawyer.
We handle qualifying cases on a contingency fee basis, with attorney fees dependent on a recovery and responsibility for case expenses explained in the written agreement.
