Most people don’t know anything about the basics of medical malpractice, despite the fact that it is a fairly common type of personal injury lawsuit. Many people who have a negative outcome from medical care believe that they should be able to sue the medical professional or hospital. In reality, there is a strict set of criteria required to bring a successful medical malpractice suit. A medical malpractice attorney will be able to discuss your legal rights.
In order to avoid risking a lawsuit being thrown out, it’s important to know the merits of a claim before proceeding. So, what are the key points to remember when dealing with a medical malpractice case?
Definition
Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital or medical professional causes an injury to a patient due to negligence. The negligence may be a result of an error during diagnosis, treatment, and/or aftercare. For a medical malpractice case to be successful, certain elements must be satisfied. These elements will be further discussed below.
Elements
There are three elements that are used to determine whether medical malpractice was committed. These elements are: A violation of the standard of care, an injury resulting from the negligence, and damages caused by the injury.
These three elements are necessary in order to discourage nuisance negligence claims, which are not only baseless accusations, but are also means to disrupt a medical professional’s life. To gain a better understanding of these prerequisites, we will discuss these elements a bit more.
Violation of Standard of Care
Standards of care are defined as measures that a medical professional is expected to take in the course of caring for a patient in a particular circumstance. These treatment principles are deemed acceptable by medical experts in their respective fields and are what is recommended by medical training. To veer from these medical standards, as is the case with negligent behavior, puts the patient at significant risk of injury.
Injury Directly Caused By Negligence
The injury done to the claimant must have been a direct and correlated result of the act of negligence. The claimant must prove that the injury was a result of the violation of the standards of care. If the injury was not caused by the negligent act, there shall be no case against the medical professional.
Damages
Finally, the claimant must prove that the injury caused loss of income, disability, extreme pain, or significant medical bills. The reason for this is to ensure that the pursuit of the case does not cost more than what the claimant needs as compensation. After all, lawsuits are expensive.
If you, or someone you know, suspects that you’ve been a victim of medical malpractice, it’s important to get in touch with a medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible. A medical malpractice lawyer is going to be able to review the facts of the case as well as its viability. This will help you determine the best course of action to take.
