In Louisiana, filing a civil action begins with the filing a complaint in court. The complaint must include the name of the person being sued, the reason for the lawsuit, and the type of damages being sought. The Clerk of Court will assign a case number, division and judge to the complaint. If you believe that an entity covered by HIPAA or your business partner has violated your health information privacy rights (or those of another person) or committed another violation of privacy, security, or violation reporting regulations, you can file a complaint with the Office for Civil Rights (OCR).
OCR can investigate complaints against covered entities (health plans, health information exchange centers,) or health care providers that carry out certain transactions electronically) and their business partners. Before taking legal action, you must first decide what type of payment you want and then meet the statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. You must also follow the medical review process in Louisiana. If you file a lawsuit against a public health care provider, you must comply with the State Services Malpractice Liability Act. If you file a lawsuit against a private healthcare provider, you must comply with the Medical Malpractice Act. An injured patient can file a medical negligence case against any licensed healthcare provider, including doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and mental health professionals.
To do so, they must prove that: A) The healthcare provider had a duty to provide care to the patient; B) They breached that duty; C) They know the accepted standards of medical care for the diagnosis, care, or treatment of the disease, injury, or condition involved in the claim; and D) The breach caused injury to the patient. When looking for a health care law firm in northern Louisiana to represent you in your lawsuit, it is important to do your research. Looking at a variety of firms will give you an idea of what each one provides and will help you decide which one is best for you. You may also want to get an idea of whether you really like the lawyer or law firm you're interviewing. Civil rights laws can protect you from unlawful discrimination, harassment, or abuse in a variety of settings such as housing, workplace, school, voting, business, health care, public spaces and more. While it is illegal for medical providers to share medical information without the patient's permission, federal law prohibits filing a lawsuit seeking compensation. In Louisiana, when filing a medical malpractice lawsuit against a qualified healthcare provider, you must first file the claim with the Commissioner of Management.
If any breach of the standard of care by the health care provider immediately caused an injury that would not have been suffered otherwise. To avoid punishing an injured party for not discovering their injury quickly enough, Louisiana legislators created the discovery rule. If a defendant is named in a medical negligence case in Louisiana, pure comparative negligence defense is allowed which reduces compensation for damages in proportion to the percentage of fault assigned by a court. However, Louisiana law generally does not recognize punitive damages in personal injury actions. The court went on to explain that by setting damage limits on medical malpractice lawsuits, legislators were attempting to combat rising health insurance premiums and avoid a health care crisis.
