Consulting with a Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical malpractice occurs when a health care provider does not follow the standard acceptable level of care and a person is injured as a result of that negligent care.  Every person who has complications or injury while in the care of a health care provider does not have a claim for medical malpractice. Sometimes health care providers do everything right, and a person still ends up injured.  Sometimes a health care provider tries a new or experimental method of treatment with the patient’s consent.  Sometimes the only hope of treatment is to use something that is new or experimental. 

Is Legal Help Necessary?

While there are some kinds of legal matters for which people can represent themselves without an attorney, a medical malpractice case is not one of them.  Medical malpractice is a complex area of law which only an experienced personal injury attorney can navigate.  There are preliminary issues which must be established before an injured party is even allowed to file a medical malpractice suit. 

Finding a Qualified Malpractice Lawyer

When looking for a medical malpractice lawyer, it is important to find someone with specific experience in medical malpractice.  You might pay a higher fee, but you are more likely to win a higher award and only an experienced attorney will know how to battle the experienced defense attorneys you will likely face in your lawsuit.  Much of the law in medical malpractice cases hinges on minute details and facts of a procedure and it is important that you find an attorney who understands both the law, and the medical industry standards of care.  You may have heard stories or seen t.v. shows where the doctor leaves his watch in a person’s stomach while doing surgery, but in most medical malpractice cases, the medical negligence is not so obvious. 

Varying Medical Opinions

Doctors often differ on their opinions of what might be the best course of treatment for a particular patient.  That is why most people get a second or third opinion before deciding on major medical procedures.  The lack of agreement among doctors presents a problem when trying to establish the ordinary course of care in any situation.  An injured person must prove the health care provider did not act according to ordinary standards of care and in order to do so, one must first define what that ordinary care is.

Determining Negligence

In some states, an expert (or a panel of experts) must investigate the injury and the standard of care used by the health care provider(s).  The expert must then sign a sworn statement to his opinion that an injury occurred and it was directly related to the negligence of the health care provider.  This step was created to protect health care providers from false claims.  When is was easier to file a medical malpractice claim, a person could file a suit claiming a doctor was negligent and it could work like extortion because the innocent doctor might rather pay and settle the claim than fight the lawsuit and have his good name tarnished by the false accusations.  The requirement that an expert must first testify to the legitimacy of the claim is a protection for the doctor, but it also gives the injured party and his attorney an objective opinion of their case before spending a great deal of time and money trying to prove it.