Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider deviates from the accepted standard of care in their field, and that deviation causes patient harm. If this happened to you or a family member, a New Jersey medical malpractice attorney can help determine whether you have a case.

To prove a medical malpractice claim in New Jersey, you must establish four elements:

• The doctor-patient relationship existed
• The provider failed to meet the accepted standard of care
• That failure directly caused harm
• Harm resulted from the failure of the provider

When these elements are met, you may be entitled to recover damages. There is no cap on compensatory damages in New Jersey.

Yes. In New Jersey, most personal injury claims must be filed within two years from the date of the injury under the New Jersey statute of limitations. If the harm was not immediately apparent, the discovery rule may extend that deadline from the date you knew or reasonably should have known that malpractice occurred.

In cases involving a missed or delayed cancer diagnosis, Lavern’s Law may apply. It allows a claim to be filed within two years and six months from the date the patient knew or reasonably should have known of the negligent act or omission.

New Jersey law requires the plaintiff to file an affidavit of merit within 60 days after the defendant’s answer is filed. This document is sworn by a qualified medical expert in the same specialty as the defendant, confirming that the provider’s actions reasonably deviated from the accepted standard of care.

No. Giving consent to have a procedure performed does not give your doctor permission to fail in their duty of care.