If you are contemplating filing a lawsuit for medical negligence or medical malpractice against a healthcare provider, you cannot file the lawsuit all by itself. Contemporaneously with the legal complaint, you must file an expert affidavit, sometimes also known as an affidavit of a qualified expert. This affidavit is a legal document that the qualified medical expert in the case must complete.
In addition, the expert who completes this affidavit must have the necessary qualifications to testify in court and must state, based upon a reasonable degree of medical certainty, that the offending healthcare provider committed at least one negligent act when treating the patient. For example, the healthcare provider might have botched a medical procedure or failed to promptly diagnose a patient’s serious medical condition.
Although it is relatively rare, the court can allow for a 45-day extension to file the affidavit of a qualified expert in some cases. These extensions are usually only granted if there is a new medical malpractice attorney who is involved in the case, the deadline to file the affidavit is quickly coming up, and there is not enough time for the new medical malpractice attorney in the case to have the affidavit prepared for filing along with the legal complaint.
If the injured patient’s attorney does not file the affidavit at the same time as they file the complaint, then the complaint can be subject to a motion to dismiss that is filed by the healthcare provider’s attorney in the case. Once the defense attorney files the motion, the court will likely rule that the patient did not comply with the affidavit-filing requirement and dismiss the case.
The experienced Lawrenceville medical malpractice attorneys at Brauns Law Accident Injury Lawyers, PC will file a qualified expert affidavit along with the legal complaint in your case in an efficient and timely manner. Your lawyer will also work to help you recover the damages you deserve in your medical malpractice case.
