Denver Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Request Free ConsultationYou may be entitled to compensation if a medical error, substandard care, or other form of negligence caused you or a loved one to suffer injuries. However, navigating a medical malpractice claim is a complex process that requires skill, knowledge, and a thorough understanding of Colorado law.
Medical malpractice cases differ from standard personal injury claims, and the burden of proof is much more substantial.
At Fuicelli & Lee, we are committed to providing you with the legal guidance and support you need to pursue justice.
An experienced Denver medical malpractice lawyer with our firm is ready to help you. We understand the emotional, physical, and financial toll that medical malpractice can take on every part of a patient’s life.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider, such as a doctor, nurse, or hospital, fails to deliver the standard of care that is reasonably expected in their field, leading to harm, injury, or death of the patient.
In Colorado, medical malpractice claims are governed by strict rules, including the need to prove that the healthcare provider acted negligently or failed to adhere to established medical practices.
While not every negative medical outcome is considered malpractice, common examples of medical errors that can lead to a malpractice claim include:
- Surgical Errors: These include performing surgery on the wrong body part, leaving surgical instruments inside a patient, or causing injury during surgery.
- Misdiagnosis or Delayed Diagnosis: When a doctor fails to diagnose a condition correctly or delays diagnosis, it can result in worsening health, additional treatments, or death.
- Medication Errors: Administering the wrong medication, incorrect dosages, or failure to check for dangerous drug interactions.
- Childbirth Injuries: Birth-related injuries that result from the doctor’s negligence, improper use of forceps, or failure to monitor the mother and child can adversely affect a child for their entire life.
- Failure to Obtain Informed Consent: Medical professionals must explain the risks and benefits of treatments and procedures to patients, and failure to do so can lead to claims of negligence.
The Enormous Burden of Proof in Medical Malpractice Cases
Unlike other personal injury claims, medical malpractice cases come with a significant burden of proof that requires plaintiffs to meet higher standards of evidence.
In a typical personal injury case, the plaintiff (the injured party) usually bears the burden of proof to show that the defendant (the party being sued) is liable for the injury, and this standard is often referred to as preponderance of the evidence.
This simply means that the defendant’s actions are more likely to have caused the plaintiff’s injury.
In medical malpractice cases, however, the burden of proof is much more demanding.
The legal team must demonstrate that the healthcare provider was negligent, that their actions deviated from the standard of care, and that this deviation directly caused harm or injury.
To meet this burden, the plaintiff must provide evidence like:
- Medical Records: A complete and accurate history of all medical treatments, procedures, and diagnoses.
- Expert Testimony: Medical experts in the same field as the defendant must testify that the healthcare provider deviated from the standard of care. This is often the most critical and complex part of a malpractice case.
- Causation: The plaintiff must prove that the healthcare provider’s error directly caused their injuries. This can require a lawyer to establish, especially when the injuries could have occurred due to other factors.
This higher standard of proof means that medical malpractice cases are more complicated and require significant legal resources. This is why you need a skilled Denver medical malpractice lawyer on your side who can build an exhaustively researched and documented case.
How is Medical Malpractice Different from Personal Injury Claims?
Medical malpractice claims differ from personal injury claims in several significant ways. While both involve negligence or wrongful acts that harm an individual, the nature of medical malpractice is far more complex.
In personal injury cases, the law requires a plaintiff to show that the defendant’s actions led to an injury, and the evidence may be straightforward.
However, in medical malpractice cases, several factors make proving negligence much more challenging:
- Medical Expertise: Medical malpractice cases involve highly specific medical knowledge. Colorado law requires a certificate of review for every medical malpractice case and every defendant if there is more than one. The certificate must show that your lawyer met with a medical professional in the same area of medicine as the defendant. The certificate also must show that the medical professional has reviewed all of the relevant medical records and facts of the case and that they believe your complaint has merit. Your Denver medical malpractice attorney has 60 days after submitting a complaint to submit the certificate of review.
- Deviation from Standard of Care: In a personal injury case, negligence often concerns whether the defendant acted reasonably. In medical malpractice, however, the issue revolves around whether the healthcare provider adhered to their profession’s specific standard of care. This standard can vary depending on the medical specialty and the injury’s circumstances.
- Causation: Proving causation in medical malpractice cases is often more complicated than in other personal injury cases. The plaintiff must prove that the healthcare provider made a mistake and that the mistake directly caused harm. Your attorney must provide evidence that your injury was not caused by an existing medical condition or factors unrelated to the provider’s negligence, making the connection between the malpractice and the injury harder to establish.
- Defensive Medicine and Hospital Resources: In many medical malpractice cases, the defense will argue that the injury was not caused by negligence but rather by unavoidable risks associated with medical treatment. Hospitals and healthcare providers also have substantial legal and financial resources to mount a strong defense.
These challenges mean that proving a medical malpractice case often requires more time, resources, and a deeper understanding of the medical field than a standard personal injury case.
That’s why you need a Denver medical malpractice lawyer who can guide you through these complexities and ensure your case is properly handled.
Types of Damages Available in Medical Malpractice Cases
In medical malpractice cases, a plaintiff can recover several types of damages, depending on the case. These damages compensate the victim for the harm caused by the medical error.
- Economic Damages: These damages are intended to compensate the plaintiff for quantifiable financial losses resulting from the injury. Common economic damages include:
- Medical expenses (past and future)
- Lost wages due to an inability to work
- Costs for future medical care, rehabilitation, or therapy
- Non-Economic Damages: These are meant to compensate the plaintiff for more intangible losses, including:
- Pain and suffering
- Emotional distress
- Loss of quality of life
- Loss of consortium (for the spouse of the injured party)
- Punitive Damages: In rare cases where the healthcare provider’s actions are found to be grossly negligent or malicious, the court may award the plaintiff punitive damages. These damages punish the defendant and deter similar behavior.
Colorado HB-1472: More Compensation for Medical Malpractice Victims
In June 2023, the Colorado General Assembly passed House Bill 1472, raising the damages cap in certain cases, including the medical malpractice noneconomic damages cap and damages for medical malpractice resulting in wrongful death.
Specifically, the bill increases the damages cap on general liability claims for medical malpractice from $300,000 to $875,000 over the next five years. The first increase to $415,000 will apply to claims filed on or after January 1, 2025, with subsequent increases of $115,000 occurring every two years.
HB 1472 also raises the damages cap on medical malpractice cases resulting in wrongful death to $1,575,000 over the next five years. The bill also provides for a soft cap of 125% on wrongful death damages exceeding $1 million.
Defending Against Medical Malpractice Claims: Common Defense Arguments
Medical malpractice cases are notoriously complex and difficult. Many of the cases Fuicelli & Lee takes on come to us from other personal injury lawyers and law firms that do not have the knowledge or resources to take on tough medical malpractice cases.
Your Denver medical malpractice attorney must understand the complex medical issues involved and the sophisticated defense strategies often used by healthcare providers and hospitals.
Here are some common defenses the healthcare industry often uses in its defense:
No Breach of the Standard of Care
One of the most common defenses in medical malpractice cases is the argument that the healthcare provider did not breach the standard of care. In other words, the defendant may argue that their actions were consistent with the accepted medical practices and guidelines for treating the patient’s condition.
To counter this defense, your Denver medical malpractice lawyer must demonstrate the defendant’s clearly negligent actions deviated from the standard that another reasonably competent professional in the same field would have followed.
Countering these arguments often means your lawyer will bring in medical expert witnesses who can testify that the healthcare provider’s actions were below the accepted standard.
Another common defense strategy is to argue that the defendant’s actions did not cause the injury sustained by the plaintiff.
This could include pre-existing medical conditions, the natural progression of the disease, or complications that could not have been avoided despite the defendant’s care. In these cases, the defendant may argue that even if a mistake was made, it was not the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injury.
This is where the plaintiff’s burden of proof becomes critical. The plaintiff’s legal team will need to establish that the healthcare provider’s actions (or lack of action) directly led to the injury or worsening of the condition.
This is a high bar to meet, and it often requires a detailed medical history and testimony from expert witnesses who can explain how the defendant’s error caused the specific harm.
Informed Consent Was Obtained
Many medical malpractice claims involve informed consent, especially in cases involving surgery or invasive procedures.
Before proceeding, healthcare providers must inform patients of the risks associated with a procedure, treatment options, and any potential complications.
If a patient consents to treatment fully and understands the risks involved, the defense may argue that the doctor is not liable for any adverse outcomes.
However, just because a healthcare provider claims informed consent was obtained does not automatically release them from liability.
The defense may argue that the patient was fully informed of the risks and complications. Still, it is often up to the plaintiff to show that the information provided was insufficient, unclear, or inaccurate.
If the defense argues that informed consent was given, the plaintiff may need to prove that the doctor did not provide sufficient information about the risks or that the risks were downplayed or omitted entirely.
In addition, it must be shown that the patient would only have agreed to the treatment if they were fully informed of all possible outcomes.
The Injury Was a Known Risk of the Treatment
In many medical malpractice cases, particularly those involving surgery or high-risk treatments, the defendant may argue that the plaintiff’s injury was a known complication or risk of the procedure.
This defense strategy hinges on the idea that certain medical risks are inherent to specific procedures and that you cannot hold the healthcare provider responsible for an outcome widely recognized as a potential side effect.
For example, a surgeon might argue that nerve damage during spinal surgery is a known risk, even though the injury occurred due to a surgical error. The defense would claim that the plaintiff’s injury was a complication in a small percentage of cases despite the medical team’s best efforts.
In response, the plaintiff’s legal team may argue that the injury was not simply a risk of the procedure but rather caused by the healthcare provider’s negligence or failure to execute the procedure properly.
For instance, if a patient is injured during surgery due to improper technique, the injury may not constitute a normal complication but rather a result of the defendant’s failure to meet the required standard of care.
Statute of Limitations Has Expired
Another common defense is the statute of limitations. In Colorado, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims (Colorado Revised Statutes § 13-80-102.5) is generally two years from the date of the injury.
If a plaintiff fails to file a claim within this timeframe, the defense will argue that the statute of limitations bars the case and should be dismissed.
However, Colorado law also allows for a discovery of harm rule exception in medical malpractice cases.
This means that if the plaintiff was unaware of the malpractice at the time it occurred (for example, if the injury was discovered later due to a misdiagnosis), the two-year period may begin from the date the injury was discovered rather than from the date the malpractice occurred.
This is another reason why it is critical to act quickly if you believe you have been the victim of medical malpractice. A Colorado medical malpractice lawyer can help determine the exact timeline for your case and ensure that it is filed within the statute of limitations.
Why Choose Fuicelli & Lee’s Denver Medical Malpractice Lawyers?
If you or a loved one has been a victim of medical malpractice, you need a dedicated, compassionate, and capable legal team to handle your case.
At Fuicelli & Lee, we provide:
- Comprehensive Knowledge of Medical Malpractice Law: We understand the intricacies of medical malpractice law in Colorado and the unique challenges that come with these cases.
- Experienced Legal Team: We work with medical experts, investigators, and other professionals to build a solid case.
- Compassionate and Personalized Attention: We know that medical malpractice cases are often emotionally and physically draining. Our team will be with you every step of the way, providing the support you need.
- History of Success: Fuicelli & Lee has a long history of obtaining life-changing settlements and verdicts. Our track record and client reviews testify to our work and dedication to obtaining the best possible results.
- Contingency Fee Arrangement: We work on a contingency fee basis, meaning you don’t pay unless we win your case.
Contact a Denver Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today

Denver Medical Malpractice Lawyer, Keith Fuicelli
If you believe that medical malpractice harmed you or a loved one, seek legal help immediately. Contact Fuicelli & Lee today for a free consultation with an experienced Denver medical malpractice lawyer.
We will evaluate your case, discuss your legal options, and explain the process of seeking compensation for medical malpractice injuries from start to finish. Our goal is to obtain full, fair, and complete compensation for you. It’s a responsibility we take to heart.
Call us today at (303) 444-4444 or use our online contact form to request your free, no-obligation consultation.
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Fuicelli & Lee, PC – Denver Office
1731 Gilpin Street
Denver, CO 80218
P: (303) 444-4444