Thousands of people are harmed by medical errors or negligence every year, however not every medical error is considered malpractice under the law. If you or a loved one suffered injuries because a misdiagnosis prevented you from getting timely treatment, or if a medical error resulted in significant suffering or poorer health, you may have a case for a medical malpractice lawsuit against the healthcare provider and the medical facility. A personal injury attorney may be able to help you file a clam for compensatory damages from the party or parties that caused you harm.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
The threshold differentiating medical malpractice from a medical error is determining whether the medical care provider caused injury to a patient by failing to meet the recognized standard of medical care. Medical negligence occurs when a practitioner (doctor, nurse, CAN, or another medical professional) deviates from the manner of care that a prudent medical professional would offer to a patient presenting similar symptoms to yours.
Medical negligence may result in a patient being misdiagnosed and missing the benefits of early intervention for a disease. Medical malpractice can also include a patient undergoing medical procedures that are unnecessary, painful, and invasive. Negligence and malpractice result in the patient being in poorer health than before the treatment began and possibly facing more serious health complications because of the lack of proper medical care.
Elements of a Medical Malpractice Claim
A medical malpractice claim must typically meet four criteria. The elements of a malpractice claim are:
- There was an established doctor-patient relationship
- The doctor provided a standard of care below the recognized norm
- The doctor’s negligence or oversight injured the patient
- The injury resulted in financial and physical harm to the patient
Civil law provides recourse for people whose medical condition deteriorated due to malpractice or suffered significant medical harm due to oversight. The “harm” element of a malpractice claim is the cost of treatment and care from the injury caused by malpractice, and you are entitled to seek compensation for the additional cost of your care and the pain and suffering from your injuries.
Medical Malpractice Takes Several Forms
Medical malpractice can happen in a few different ways, such as:
- Misdiagnosis, when the doctor fails to identify your true condition and attributes it to something else, such as cancer or a heart condition
- Delayed diagnosis is the failure of the doctor to order the right diagnostic testing to determine the cause of your symptoms. Failure to order the right tests or properly communicate the results leads to a delay in treatment that harms the patient
- Failure to treat, if a doctor properly identifies the condition but does not recommend the proper or sufficient treatment options
- Surgical error, failure of the surgeon or others on the surgical team to adhere to the general standard of care in surgery (operating on the wrong body part, leaving an item in the surgical cavity)
- Birth injury, errors in the delivery process that harm the mother, child, or both
These are the most common causes of medical malpractice and medical negligence that medical malpractice attorneys litigate, but they are not the only kind of medical malpractice that many victims suffered, so you may benefit from a consultation with a local medical malpractice law firm to discuss your circumstances.
How Does My Medical Malpractice Lawyer Prove My Medical Malpractice Claim?
An experienced medical malpractice lawyer carefully collects evidence to prove each of the four elements of a medical malpractice claim. You will likely be asked to provide medical records and other personal medical information to your attorney. Your medical bills establish the monetary expense of your treatment and what you paid to correct the harm caused by the malpractice. Your bills and insurance statements will also itemize the procedures and tests that you underwent.
Expert testimony may also be a vital part of your case. These are often licensed medical providers who state how they would have approached your testing, diagnosis, treatment, or surgery. Their testimony is used to establish how a typical medical care provider would have responded in your situation and serves as a comparison to the at-fault medical care provider. It shows the difference between an approved standard of care and the care you received.
Make Sure Your Legal Rights Remain Protected
If you or someone you love has been harmed because of medical malpractice or missed valuable treatment due to a misdiagnosis, you deserve justice. You may have legal options to recoup the expenses for additional medical treatment you needed after the malpractice negligence and to provide compensation for your diminished quality of life and emotional trauma.
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