Medical malpractice claims are usually complicated in the way that patients don’t often know whether a doctor or health care provider delivered standard procedure. Doctors and nurses are professionals we fully trust our lives with. Medical malpractice occurs when a patient is injured from a doctor or healthcare professional through a negligent act or omission. Make sure you understand medical procedures and are able to identify a medical malpractice claim by reading these basic facts.
In order for a negligence to be considered medical malpractice under the law, the claim must have these characteristics:
- Violation of Medical Procedure or Standard Care
In order to sue for malpractice, you need to be able to prove that the doctor harmed you in a way that went against normal procedure. Medical professionals have the duty to follow and meet certain standards of care when treating and diagnosing their patients.
- Doctor’s Negligence Caused an Injury
The doctor’s care won’t always be perfect but it needs to be “reasonably skillful and careful.” Just because you are unhappy with your results doesn’t mean the claim is liable for medical malpractice.
The patient has to have some sort of proof that the negligence made by the health provider or doctor was what caused the injury.
- Injury Led to Specific Damages
A medical malpractice claim typically requires the testimony of many medical experts and can be extremely expensive to litigate. To pursue a medical malpractice claim, the patient has to show that the injury resulted or worsened with a disability, unusual pain, suffering, loss of income, or extreme past or future medical bills.
Medical malpractice can occur in many different ways. Here are some examples of medical malpractice:
- Misreading or ignoring lab results
- Failure to order proper testing
- Discharging too early
- Unnecessary surgery
- Failure to diagnose
- Surgical errors
- Improper medication or dosage
- Poor aftercare
- Failure to recognize symptoms
Conclusion
If you or a loved one has been a result of medical malpractice or by a defective medical device, our attorneys are here to help. We know that you will have many questions about your rights and the claim process, and we always take the time to explain the process and your rights to you. Contact us today to see how we can help you. All consultations with our experienced accident attorneys are free and there is no obligation.
Note: This article uses information adapted from from nolo.com. The full articles may be accessed at the links below.
https://www.nolo.com/legal-encyclopedia/medical-malpractice-basics-29855.html
