Medical Malpractice: Is Your Doctor Responsible?

Everyone expects their doctor to be an expert in their field and to solve the medical problems they bring for treatment.  At least, that was common several decades ago.   Times have changed, and patients are quicker to blame a doctor when they don’t get the result they expect from a health care provider.  The truth is, while most physicians are experts who do provide a high quality of care, there are times when they make mistakes, and those mistakes can be painful and even deadly.

Medical Malpractice Law

Anyone who is injured by the mistake of a health care provider has the right to file suit to obtain compensation for his or her additional medical costs as well as pain and suffering.  The problem is, these cases are often difficult to prove.  In addition, legislators in some states have put limits, or caps on the compensation victims can be awarded in lawsuits.  Experienced personal injury lawyers can help a victim learn if their doctor is negligent in their injuries based on several parameters.

Proving a Doctors Liability for a Medical Injury

A doctor can be proved guilty of medical malpractice if they perform a negligent act or fail to perform a necessary act that results in damage or harm to a patient.  These negligent acts can occur in such areas as

• A mistake in a diagnosis
• An error in treatment
• Failure to provide timely treatment
• Failure to provide appropriate follow-up to a patient
• Inappropriate prescriptions ordered to treat a patient

The victim must be able to prove that their physician’s treatment deviated from the generally accepted standards of treatment in that field or for that illness.  One of the requirements that most states have added to medical malpractice lawsuits is that the lawyer obtain a certificate of merit from an established expert in the medical field in question before proceeding with the lawsuit.  And in fact, medical experts are often used throughout a medical malpractice suit to prove that the defendant acted negligently in their treatment of the plaintiff.

In some cases, a victim may be unable to prove exactly how a health care provider acted negligently, causing the injury.  However, if the injury is obviously one that would not have occurred without someone’s negligence, a principle called "res ipsa loquitur," it becomes the defendant’s responsibility to prove that they were not negligent, rather than the plaintiff’s responsibility to prove that they were.

Who Is Responsible?

There are a number of possible defendants to be considered in a case of medical malpractice, especially if it is in relationship to a serious illness or injury.  When multiple doctors and nurses are involved, plus hospital care, tests, and prescriptions, it can be much more difficult to determine who is negligent in a medical malpractice lawsuit.  Some of those who can be found negligent include, among others,

• Physicians
• Hospitals
• Anesthesiologists
• Nurses
• Pharmaceutical companies

It takes expert investigators to sift through the evidence and determine whom has liability for the injuries sustained by the victim. 

Malpractice Cases and Compensation

Medical malpractice cases are difficult to prove.  In addition, while the pain and costs involved in such injuries are extensive, the emotional toll is high, as well.  That makes it that much more important to have a skilled medical malpractice attorney who can look at a case with legal eyes rather than emotional eyes.  They can tell the victim if they have a case, and how that case should be pursued in order to obtain the compensation they deserve.