Do You Have a Medical Malpractice Case?

You may think you have a medical malpractice case if your doctor made a mistake when treating you or caused a personal injury. But there's a lot more to a medical malpractice lawsuit than someone getting hurt. You need to be able to prove or show:

• A medical professional or doctor made a mistake;
• That mistake caused you harm

A malpractice case is a complicated, lengthy legal matter since it's not always easy to prove those two points.

What Is It, Really?

A medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional does or doesn't do something that causes a personal injury to you, the patient. The professional's act or omission is referred to as medical negligence.

Medical Negligence

An omission or mistake can occur any time during a medical treatment. Your doctor could misdiagnose your illness or, he or she may neglect to give you the proper medication or treatment for your specific illness. The main thing here is the standard of care. This refers to the generally accepted methods that other medical professionals and doctors use to care for or treat patients under similar or the very same circumstances. Let's say you are a business professional, 45 years old and living in Chicago with asthma. The standard of care your doctor needs to use is the standard other Chicago doctors and those in surrounding areas use to diagnose and treat asthma in other business professionals of the same age. Of course, the standard will be different for a 70-year old retired teacher in West Virginia or a 20-year old professional athlete in Dallas. The standards will change depending on the patient's medical problem, age and where he or she lives. If you're able to prove that your doctor did not follow the standard of care, or breached that standard causing personal injury for your particular medical problem then you are on your way to making a strong medical malpractice claim.

Damage or Injury

The fact your doctor made a mistake isn't enough. Before you are able to file a lawsuit, you need to be able to show the mistake caused you some sort of personal injury or harm. Brain damage after an operation, amputating the wrong limb or a disease or medical condition that got progressively worse after treatment and even death are examples of damage or injury. Unless you have experienced harm, you don't have a malpractice case. What's more, you will need to prove that your injury is connected to carelessness. This is referred to as "causation" which means your harm or damage was a result of the doctor's mistake. This can be an expensive and difficult part of the case. Typically, you need at least one expert witness who can explain how the mistake led to your injury. Expert witnesses are usually other medical professionals or doctors. Experts can also be used to help you show how a doctor breached the standard of care.

Do You Have a Case?

If you've experienced personal injury due to a medical malpractice instance, talk to the professionals at Clore Law who will help you determine the ins and outs of your case and advice on the best way forward. You can contact us here.