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Albuquerque Medical Malpractice Lawyers
Every year, millions of Americans are the victim of medical mistakes. If you or a loved one received poor care from a medical professional that rises to the level of malpractice, you may be entitled to substantial financial compensation.
Before you can receive a settlement or award, you must go through a difficult legal process where you may have to vigorously fight the medical professional and their employer. You would do this with the help of an Albuquerque medical malpractice lawyer.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
When you entrust anyone with any aspect of your medical care, they assume a duty of care that they owe you. Specifically, they have the duty to act as a reasonable medical professional of average training and skill would do under the circumstances. Medical malpractice occurs when the professional does something that fails to live up to the standard of care. Usually, the doctor has been careless, and it has resulted in injury to you. Medical malpractice is the type of case that you would file to hold them legally responsible for what they have done.
Examples of Medical Malpractice
Many things can be medical malpractice. This is actually a broad category of cases that can encompass practically any mistake that a medical professional can make that causes you injury. Examples of medical malpractice include:
- Birth injuries to the mother or child
- Errors in prescribing or administering medication
- Having to redo a surgical procedure because the doctor made a mistake and did not properly perform it in the first place
- Failure to diagnose a medical condition in a reasonable amount of time
- Providing poor post-operative care that leads to complications
- “Never events” that include gross surgical errors, such as performing the wrong procedure or operating on the incorrect body part
To be clear, not every adverse medical result happens because of malpractice. It is entirely possible that you may not get the results that you hope and expect. However, if poor treatment results were due to the doctor’s negligence, you can hold them accountable in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
How Do I Prove a Medical Malpractice Case?
To prove your medical malpractice case, you would need to show that the medical professional was negligent in their care. However, it may be difficult to reconstruct the care that you received and show that the doctor failed to live up to their standard of care. You still have the burden of proof to show that the doctor committed malpractice.
Medical malpractice cases are largely established through the testimony of expert witnesses. Your medical malpractice lawyer would work with medical experts to show how and why your care was substandard. These experts would review your medical records and give their opinion of what a reasonable doctor would have done to treat you.
Then, you may have access to additional evidence that you could obtain directly from the medical professional at a hospital in the course of the discovery process. Your medical malpractice attorney would even be able to speak with the doctor during a deposition to hear about how they cared for you in their own words.
How Much Is My Medical Malpractice Case Worth?
You may see different figures about the average value of a medical malpractice settlement. The one takeaway that you should get from these figures is that your case could be worth a considerable amount of money. Otherwise, you should not pay attention to what anyone else has because their circumstances may be different from yours.
The value of your case depends on both the extent of your injuries and the amount of insurance coverage that the medical professional has. Your damages in a medical malpractice case could include:
- The medical expenses to treat your injury
- Lost wages that you could not earn from your job
- Pain and suffering from the experience you endured
- Embarrassment and humiliation
- Scarring and disfigurement
- Emotional distress from the act of malpractice
If you take your case to a jury and win, punitive damages may greatly increase the amount of your award. If the doctor was extremely negligent, the jury may try to send them a message by assessing them with punitive damages.
New Mexico does impose certain damage limitations on medical malpractice cases. Starting on January 1, 2024, there was a $1 million cap on medical malpractice damages at an urgent care center or emergency room, although that cap increases by $500,000 annually until 2026. However, punitive damages and the cost of your future medical care do not count against the damages limit under New Mexico law.
How Long Will My Medical Malpractice Case Take?
Medical malpractice cases are not known as the easiest type of lawsuit to file and win. However, there is a strong chance that your case could result in a settlement agreement between you and the medical professional. It can take a considerable amount of time to reach this point. In most cases, you would need to build a strong case that would convince the defendant that they have no choice but to settle with you. Then, you would need to negotiate with them extensively until they would offer you the full amount of compensation that you deserve.
What is most important is that you are patient and allow your medical malpractice attorney to do their work so they can fight to maximize the value of your settlement or jury award. Just know that you can expect a long process, and do not count on getting your money in a quick fashion.
Why Do I Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer?
Doctors and hospitals will often fight your medical malpractice case with everything that they have. They know that these lawsuits are publicly available, and they may not want to either admit wrongdoing or have a black mark on their record. Furthermore, they know that these cases can be worth a considerable amount of money. They also understand that a successful medical malpractice case could raise their insurance rates considerably or even make it impossible for them to get coverage.
Further, medical malpractice cases are also scientifically intensive, and they require the help of someone who understands the medical concepts that are at work. A medical malpractice attorney who has experience in these types of cases knows how to work with expert witnesses to prove your claim. They also know how to negotiate with defendants to help you get the best possible outcome.
Contact the Albuquerque Medical Malpractice Lawyers at Buchanan Law Firm, LLC
If you have been injured by substandard care that you received from a medical professional, reach out to the Albuquerque medical malpractice lawyers at Buchanan Law Firm, LLC. You can schedule a free initial consultation with one of our medical malpractice lawyers by calling us today at 505-900-3559 or contacting us online. Our law firm is based in Albuquerque, and we also serve clients in Santa Fe and the surrounding areas.


We Prepare Each Case for Trial
We prep every case as if it will be going to trial. There is no better way to make sure you get the compensation that you deserve than to be ready to fight for you and exhaust all legal remedies. Some firms shy away from trial, we embrace it.

This is a Team Effort
We recognize that every legal matter is different. We’ll listen carefully to learn the details of your situation, as well as your goals. We’ll keep you involved and informed at all times, making certain you know where you stand, what your options are, and your likelihood of success.

We Will Be Straight With You
Whether it is about the value of your case, or how good or bad the evidence is, we will tell it to you straight. We want to help you make the best decisions about your case by giving you the information you need.
We have recovered tens of millions of dollars for our clients.
Hospital negligence resulted in catastrophic injury. This was a case involving a patient who entered the hospital for routine observation but left the hospital with catastrophic and permanent injuries due to neglect and improper treatment. This case involved extensive expert testimony on all aspects of the client’s care, both by hospital administration, hospital employees, and contractors who were involved in her treatment.
Semi-truck negligence caused wrongful death. This case involved a semi-truck driver who was intoxicated on illegal substances and killed our client. The key to this case was both aggressive discovery work, and understanding the trucking laws that regulate truck drivers and motor carriers, so we could prove how reckless it was to put the driver on the road that day.
Semi-truck negligence caused catastrophic injury. This case involved a semi-truck driver who lost control of his vehicle in a high-traffic area, causing devastating injuries to our client. We were able to reconstruct every step of the events leading up to the crash that day to piece together why this happened, using sophisticated experts in reconstruction engineering.
Semi-truck and corporate negligence caused traumatic brain injury. Our client suffered a traumatic brain injury as a result of the defendant’s negligence in parking a commercial vehicle. The key to this case was understanding trucking regulations and local ordinances at play to show how the situation should have been handled safely.
Semi-truck causing wrongful death. This sad case involved the tragic death of our clients when a semi-driver was high on illegal substances. The key to this case was working closely with law enforcement and our reconstruction expert to identify all of the assets we could recover for these clients so that they could be as fully compensated as possible.