What is Medical Malpractice?
Examples of medical malpractice include the failure to diagnose a serious illness at a treatable stage, failure to diagnose and treat a heart attack or other life-threatening condition, medication errors, lab errors, birth injuries, and surgery mistakes. Doctors and nurses are only human, but they are expected to perform at professional standards and have a duty of care to their patients. If an error in diagnosis, treatment, or illness management results in injury or harm to the patient, then it is considered medical malpractice.
Compensation For Medical Malpractice
Victims of medical malpractice are often left with staggering amounts of medical debt, devastating injuries, or the loss of a loved one. While in most cases it is not possible to repair the physical and emotional damage done, it may be possible to recover compensation for past and future medical expenses, past and future wages lost, disabilities or disfigurement resulting from negligence, pain and suffering, emotional distress, and punitive damages. If you lost a loved one, we can help you pursue a wrongful death claim that could recover damages for pain and suffering, loss of the relationship both emotionally and financially, and any expenses you incurred for the medical bills, burial, and funeral.
It is possible to sue not only the medical practitioner, but other entities associated with the practitioner, such as the hospital, practice group, medical teaching facility, or nursing home. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer will know how to build a strong case against all the parties that must be held accountable for your injuries.
Establishing Negligence
To win a medical malpractice case, the plaintiff must show that the medical practitioner was negligent in providing care to the patient. Establishing negligence requires that the following criteria be met:
- The medical professional owed a duty of care to the plaintiff as one would expect, for example, between a doctor and patient.
- That duty was breached in that the care provided was not the expected standard; it was below the standard.
- That the sub-standard care caused injury to the patient.
Establishing the standard of care requires the testimony of medical experts. Medical malpractice cases are often complex and subject to strict time limits for filing, so do not hesitate to schedule a consultation with an experienced attorney immediately.
