Medical Malpractice - Attorneys and Law

You count on your doctor to protect you, so medical negligence can be especially devastating. This is especially true because of the high stakes involved in a botched medical treatment. If your doctor misdiagnoses a serious illness, gives you poor treatment or botches a surgery, there is a good chance that you could suffer permanent injury or even death as a result of the medical negligence. As such, medical malpractice law exists to protect patients and to ensure that doctors who don’t perform competently have to pay for the loss and damage they cause.

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, hospital or other health care provider breaches their duty to provide you with a reasonable level of care. To determine if you have a viable medical malpractice claim, there are a few elements of medical malpractice cases that must be proven:

• You must prove the physician acted in a negligent manner. The standard used to determine medical negligence is a “reasonable professional” standard. In other words, was the care your doctor provided up to par with the care a reasonable doctor would have provided? Would a reasonable doctor have made the mistake, misdiagnosed the illness, or had the slip-of-hand during the surgery? If your doctor’s care was unreasonably incompetent, he can be considered negligent.
• Once you prove medical negligence, you must next prove that the medical negligence led to injury. This can be tricky. Your doctor will probably argue that it was the original illness you suffered that caused your damages and that, no matter what he did, you would have met the same fate. You need to prove that the damage you suffered would not have occurred or would not have been as extreme had your doctor been reasonably competent.

Proving a Medical Malpractice Claim

Proving a medical malpractice case is one of the most challenging legal cases to prove. The difficulty lies in the fact that you must help a jury to understand what medical negligence consists of. After all, how is the average jury to know what a reasonable doctor would do? You also must convince the jury that this doctor was the cause of the damage.

Usually, you’ll need a host of impressive expert witnesses to win a medical malpractice claim in court. The doctor or his medical malpractice insurance carrier will present competing experts to argue against you and you’ll need to counter their arguments to make sure the jury has a clear understanding of your case.

Collecting Your Medical Malpractice Damages

Once you prove your claim, you’ll also have to prove your damages. In a case of medical negligence, you are entitled to collect damages for:

• All medical bills you incurred to treat the injury your doctor caused you
• If you missed work because of your injuries, you’ll get compensation for the lost wages
• Pain and suffering damages will compensate you for the physical suffering you endured
• Emotional distress damages pay you back for the mental trauma of the doctor’s negligence and injuries

In many states, some of these damages are limited by tort reform legislation. Tort reform legislation places caps on non-economic damages (damages for pain and suffering and emotional distress). Not every state has instituted these limitations, but if yours has, it is important to know the damage caps.

It is also important to realize that in many cases, your doctor’s medical malpractice insurance carrier will offer you a settlement to give up your right to sue. If you accept, the settlement amount will be all you can collect, so it is best to talk to an medical malpractice lawyer before making a decision.

Working with a Medical Malpractice Attorney

Most people would not be able to prove a medical malpractice case on their own. Hiring a medical malpractice attorney is important because your lawyer can:

• Assess the situation to determine if you have a strong case
• Help you to file the paperwork and all other court documents necessary to start your lawsuit.
• Make sure you file your case within the statute of limitations – the time limit your state gives you in which you must sue
• Assist you in proving your case by assembling evidence, finding experts to testify on your behalf, and making a convincing argument to a jury
• Help you negotiate a fair settlement with a medical malpractice insurer, should you decide a trial is too much to handle

A medical malpractice lawyer generally charges fees on a contingent basis. This means that you won’t have to pay until you win your case, and generally if you don’t win you won’t have to pay anything. This means you have nothing to lose by hiring a medical malpractice attorney, and you can greatly increase your chances of getting the damages you deserve.