Image Licensing Protections: An Introduction

The Criteria For A Successful Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

4 September 2015

Judy Alexander

If you suffered health complications as a direct result of what you believe may be medical malpractice, then you might qualify for a personal injury lawsuit. To help you get a better idea of what that means, here is an overview of what factors contribute to the strength of a medical malpractice lawsuit:

First of all, what is medical malpractice?

Medical malpractice is a specific form of negligence where a health care professional fails to live up to accepted community standards and practices, either by act or omission. 

Now, it can be pretty hard to distinguish between medical malpractice and the natural dangers of medicine and surgery. Not all complications can be blamed on the doctor, which means that you won't have a very good shot at winning a personal injury lawsuit. While the best way to determine the strength of your case is to consult a lawyer, there are a couple of key questions that you can ask yourself to get a rough idea of whether you have a case or not.

First of all, you should understand the concept of standard of care. Most cases of medical malpractice try to prove that the health care professional did not act in accordance with the standard of care that was required. However, it can be very difficult for the layperson to figure out exactly how the standard of care works. So what is the standard of care exactly?

The standard of care

In the simplest terms, this is the level of attention to detail and methods of treatment that a similar health care professional would use for a similar patient in a similar set of circumstances. As you might imagine, proving that a doctor or nurse acted against the standard of care requires a good deal of industry knowledge. You'll need to know what other doctors in the area would do in such a situation, which is why you probably want to consult an expert.

A personal injury lawyer can help you find an expert (such as a local health care professional with a similar job) to support your case. However, there is one other key component to any medical malpractice lawsuit: proving the damage.

Damage and compensation

In order to receive the compensation that you are pursuing, you will need to prove that you were seriously injured (or at least injured in proportion to the compensation you are seeking). Additionally, you need to actually prove that your injury was due to the medical malpractice and not some other circumstances. In order to do this, you will likely need an expert witness to verify that your injury was caused by medical malpractice.

For professional legal help, contact a law firm such as Otorowski Johnston Morrow & Golden P.L.L.C.

Share

Search