Medical Malpractice

Medical Malpractice Attorney Lafayette Louisiana

Medical negligence or "malpractice" occurs when a physician or healthcare provider either fails to do something that should have been done or does something that should not have been done which results in injury or death. Doctors and other health-care providers must follow certain standards when caring for patients. While a simple mistake is not enough to constitute negligence, an injury or death caused by the failure to provide reasonably appropriate or common standards of care or the failure to diagnose a detectable condition may be malpractice.

The legal expertise of Joseph R. Joy, III, includes successfully adding protection for the Louisiana worker by holding doctors accountable when they perform Independent Medical Examinations (IMEs) for insurance companies, large corporations or employers. Prior to Mr. Joy's success, some IME doctors were under the assumption that because they had been hired by an insurance company or employer and not by the injured Louisiana worker that they did not have a "physician-patient relationship" with the injured worker. Some of these doctors assumed that the "physician-patient relationship" existed only between the injured Louisiana worker and his/her treating physician. In essence, they assumed that they were immune to the Louisiana worker for malpractice.

Mr. Joy successfully argued to a Lafayette Federal Jury that IME physicians do have a "physician-patient relationship" with the injured Louisiana worker. The IME doctor is now responsible to the injured Louisiana worker and can be sued for malpractice when the worker is further injured through the fault of the IME physician, (i.e. delay in surgery or treatment). The jury awarded Mr. Joy and his client over one million dollars.

Mr. Joy's success in this landmark decision serves to protect all workers from IME malpractice. This "first of its kind" case was reported on the Internet, as well as other forms of the media. Now, some doctors in Louisiana, because of this landmark decision, no longer perform evaluations for injured workers on behalf of insurance companies, large corporations or employers.

We aggressively investigate and pursue claims for catastrophic injuries and death arising out of:

• Birth Trauma
• Failure to Diagnose Cancer and Other Diseases
• Inappropriate or Negligently Performed Surgery
• Anesthesia Injuries / Death
• Disfigurement
• Inappropriate or Dangerous Treatment Practices
• Pharmaceutical Injuries and Prescription Drug Errors
• Hospital and HMO Claims.

Our experience allows us to help clients determine whether or not malpractice has occurred. Contact Louisiana medical malpractice attorney Joseph Joy for a free case evaluation.

Louisiana medical malpractice attorney Joseph Joy serves clients in all of Louisiana, including Lafayette, Lake Charles, Morgan City, Opelousas, Carencro, Crowley, Jennings, Welsh, Broussard, New Iberia, Patterson, Berwick, Morgan City, Alexandria, and Marksville.