Medical malpractice cases are a serious issue and are extremely expensive to pursue, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t a practical choice in specific situations. Medical malpractice occurs when any health care professional or hospital does not properly care for or bypasses a step which causes injury to the patient.
This negligence can be due to errors in diagnosis, treatment, aftercare or hospital management.
For your malpractice claim to be considered medical malpractice, it must include a violation of the standard of care, a suffered injury due to medical negligence and that the injury caused serious damages.
- Standard of care violation: This occurs when certain medical standards recognized as accepted medical treatment aren’t followed. A patient should expect expert care and will receive care set to the highest standards. It this standard of care isn’t met, negligence may have occurred. It is best to consult an expert medical malpractice attorney to discuss any of these issues.
- Negligence caused your injury: The hospital and doctor’s legal team will work hard to invalidate your medical malpractice claim. A violation of the standard of care alone won’t be enough. You must also prove that you sustained an injury due to negligence. You must prove this injury would not have occurred if you were treated properly.
- This injury caused serious damage: The third and final step to support your medical malpractice claim is to prove that the malpractice led to serious personal damages. If the damages are minimal, it may not be in your best interest to pursue the case since the cost and time spent pursuing a medical malpractice suit is hefty. Medical malpractice damages include disability, loss of income due to past and future medical bills, unusual pain, and significant suffering.
Some examples of medical malpractice are the failure to diagnose or misdiagnose, misreading or ignoring lab results, unnecessary surgery and surgical errors, premature discharge and disregarding patient history among others.
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