Medical malpractice takes place when a doctor, hospital or health care professional is responsible for some omission or a negligent act, causing a patient injury. This form of negligence may occur during treatment, diagnosis errors or after care. If a patient was injured in a hospital or by a doctor, nurse, or believe they may have been, an experienced personal injury attorney will be able to inform you of whether or not you have a valid claim.
Potential Grounds for a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Medical malpractice is can be considered grounds for a lawsuit, or for a claim, if it has these characteristics:
An injury caused by negligence – A medical malpractice claim is not regarded to be valid to claim just because a health care professional violated the standard care. It must be proved by the patient that the injury was caused only due to negligence or else it may not have occurred. In fact, any unfavorable outcome happening by itself is not related to malpractice. In case, there is an injury and not because of negligence, then there is no case. The patient needs to prove that the injury is absolutely a result of negligence.
A breach of standard of care – There are medical standards and this is acknowledged by the law as medical treatment to be given by health care professionals. This is referred to as the standard of care and each patient can expect this care to be given to you by health care professional as standard. However, if there is a breach in the standard of care and the patient realizes that required standard of care is not met, it is established as negligence.
Injury resulting in serious damages – Lawsuits for medical malpractice can be very expensive if you’re considering taking legal action or suing. This is because law firm’s must pay for the testimony of medical experts and endless hours of testimony deposition. Moreover, for a case to be considered, the patient must show serious damages that have resulted owing to an injury that revealed medical negligence. One important point is that in case the damage was small, then the case cost becomes greater than the recovery. Conversely, to file a medical malpractice claim, it is a must for the patient to show the injury was caused and it has resulted in loss of income, disability, hardship, suffering and unusual pain.
Medical Malpractice Examples
Medical malpractice takes many forms and some of the examples leading to a lawsuit include:
- Misdiagnosis or failure to diagnose
- Unnecessary surgery
- Ignoring or misreading lab results
- Wrong side surgery or surgical errors
- Poor aftercare or improper follow up
- Disregarding patient history
- Improper dosage or medication
- Failure in recognizing symptoms or ordering proper testing
- Premature discharge