Now more than ever, we put an immense amount of trust into the hands of our medical professionals. We expect them to conduct themselves in a professional manner and to provide quality service to those in need.
However, sometimes a doctor behaves in a manner or makes a decision that might be irresponsible, and it might put our lives or health at risk. This is the basis of all medical malpractice cases, which result in billions of dollars worth of penalties a year.
If you think your doctor has acted outside of normal procedures and caused you undue harm, you may want to bring a claim forward against them. How can you build a case and prove that they are guilty?
Read on and we’ll walk you through what you need to know about medical malpractice cases.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Not every mistake that happens in a doctor’s office will fall under the umbrella of malpractice. You can’t sue just because a family passed away or you were unhappy with the outcome of a certain procedure.
There are certain claim requirements that one must fall into in order to win a medical malpractice case.
Some of it is fairly basic. You must be able to prove that a patient-doctor relationship existed between the medical practitioner and yourself. That means there is some formal evidence of your professional relationship, such as a contract or other paperwork.
If you call up a friend who is a doctor and get advice from them, you would not later be able to sue them for medical malpractice. A professional relationship must exist.
Of course, when it comes to a medical malpractice case the most important element is the negligence of the doctor in question. A doctor is not allowed to administer care to a patient that would not stand up basic scrutiny from others in the medical field.
There is an expected standard of care that all patients have a right to expect. If a doctor fails to meet this standard of care, or makes decisions that oppose medical norms, a person might have grounds to bring a lawsuit forward.
The last required element is ramifications from this behavior. If a doctor behaved negligently but there were no ramifications from these actions, a person would have a hard time successfully bringing a claim forward against them.
Some sort of harm needs to arise from the doctor’s actions. This could be physical harm, mental anguish, or complications to the later treatment of an injury or disease.
If a person can link a doctor’s actions directly to this harm, they have a good chance at making a claim stick.
Proving Negligent Behavior
How does one determine whether or not a doctor has acted negligently? Medicine is a complicated subject after all, and there isn’t always a clear path forward for most doctors in dealing with certain issues.
In legal situations, most turn to the rest of the medical community to determine if an action, behavior, or choice could be considered negligent or not. If you’re trying to make a case against a doctor, the best thing you can do is reach out to other medical professionals and experts.
Walk these individuals through the actions that the doctor in question took. See if they find these actions to be reasonable or not. If they think that the actions the doctor took fall under the umbrella of a ‘reasonable degree of care,’ you’ll likely have a hard time bringing your case forward.
However, if they agree that the doctor’s actions were unreasonable, you may have just found yourself a quality testimony.
Don’t forget that these negligent actions must have contributed to some sort of harm. You must be able to prove that the actions of the doctor ‘more likely than not’ led to this harm. Doctors might be able to help you determine the connection.
However, an attorney might be better suited to exploring this relationship. An experienced medical malpractice attorney will have experience in presenting the facts of these kinds of cases to a jury in a way that makes sense.
Other Requirements to Keep in Mind
The above are the basics of nearly all medical malpractice cases. However, depending on where you live, there may be other requirements or regulations that you need to keep in mind.
States have different laws regarding the treatment of medical malpractice cases. It’s important to look into the local laws where you reside.
In many states, for example, there are time restrictions as to when a medical malpractice case can be brought forward. The exact timeline varies from place to place, but a few states only allow as little as a few months.
When does this window of time begin? States also have different laws in place determining that. In some states, this window starts the moment an injury is discovered and reported. In others, it begins from the actual date of the negligent behavior in question.
There are many states in the U.S. that also require claimants to submit to a review board before bringing an official case forward. This review board will be made up of medical experts like the ones we mentioned previously.
The board will look over the facts of the case and determine if the case has met all the essential requirements. If no, the case will not be allowed to proceed.
If a case is approved by the board, the board’s findings and conclusions can be used as a primary source of evidence in the court proceedings.
What to Know About Medical Malpractice Cases
If a doctor has caused you harm from their actions or behavior, you might have a right to compensation. Understanding how medical malpractice cases work will help you understand how to come out of your particular situation on top.
Need help with your case? Give me a call for more assistance.
