Why is it difficult to prove medical malpractice? Whenever a medical professional’s negligence causes an injury, this is known as medical malpractice. Many situations lead to medical malpractice, but generally it occurs during three situations.
First, when a doctor does not diagnose an illness correctly or delays a diagnosis. This event becomes medical malpractice if a correct diagnosis from a competent doctor would have led to a better health outcome.
Second, when a doctor prescribes the wrong treatment for the patient’s illness. Examples include providing the wrong treatment for an illness and failing to administer the correct treatment completely. It can also even include prescribing the wrong medication dosage.
The final situation occurs when a doctor does not warn a patient of the major risks of a treatment or procedure. If a doctor fails to perform his or her duty of informed consent and their patient becomes injured in the process, then the physician may have committed medical malpractice.
Who is liable?
Doctors are not the only medical professionals that can commit medical malpractice. In fact, any person that interacts with a patient can intentionally or unintentionally participate in medical malpractice.
In addition to doctors, nurses, and hospital staff, the actual hospital might be found liable for your injuries.
Medical Standard of Care
One way to determine whether you or a loved one has been subjected to medical malpractice is to determine a medical standard of care. As patients, we expect that healthcare professionals provide the same level of care of any competently skilled health care would provide. If a person with the same qualifications and education would provide the same level of service as our physician, then they have met the medical standard of care.
However, if they fail to provide you with a standard of care and you are injured because of this negligence, then you may have experienced medical malpractice and need a results-proven medical malpractice lawyer to represent you.
What To Know Before You File a Medical Malpractice Claim
There are several unique requirements of medical malpractice claims to follow. They include:
- Bringing forward claims before the statute of limitations, which can be as little as six months in some states.
- Reviewing the case with a review panel before the case can be taken to court.
- Locating expert witnesses that can provide testimony about your medical malpractice suit.
Proving Medical Malpractice in Court
The four things you need to show in court to prove that you suffered from medical malpractice include the following:
- There is a doctor-patient relationship between you and the medical professional or entity that you are suing. This is usually the easiest thing to prove in court.
- The medical professional was negligent during the diagnosis or treatment of your illness. This goes back to the medical standard of care. The doctor, nurse, or medical professional does not have to provide the best care for you. Instead, they only need to provide you with a standard of care that another person with similar education and background would provide.
- The medical professional’s negligence was the direct cause of your injury. Medical expert testimony usually helps prove that you did not receive a standard level of care, which resulted in your injuries.
- You suffered specific harm because of your injury. The damages you experienced can be proven with medical bills, loss of work, loss of earning potential, pain and suffering, and several other types of harm.
Failure to prove all these things in court will likely mean that your medical malpractice case will fail. This is one of the reasons why it is difficult to prove medical malpractice in court.
Talk To a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Right Away
Why is it difficult to prove medical malpractice? The bottom line is that you must know the intricacies of the laws held in the state where you live. For that, you need an experienced attorney.
If you believe that you have suffered due to medical malpractice, you need a medical malpractice lawyer that can help you. Receive a free consultation from Lytal, Reiter, Smith, Ivey & Fronrath by contacting our law firm at (561) 655-1990. We will learn more about your medical negligence lawsuit and advise you on the best actions to take.
No matter where you are, one of our offices can help.
