Medical Malpractice: Claims, Lawsuits and Legal Advice

Medical Malpractice is the negligence or failure on the part of a medical professional or a health care provider to meet the standards of good medical practice in the field in which he/she practices.

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, hospital, HMO, nurse, any other individual or entity licensed to provide medical care or treatment fails to provide such competent medical care, or does something that competent medical professional would not have done. This failure may result in injury, death or economic damages to the patient.

Possible Forms of Medical Negligence

Common forms of medical negligence and malpractice include birth injury, blood transfusions, failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis, hospital mistakes, hospital negligence, emergency room negligence, improper/bad x-rays, improper medication and medication errors, negligent anesthesiology, negligent amputation, surgical injuries, etc.

Medical Malpractice Claims

Medical malpractice claims involve extensive analysis of medical records, all tests and studies like MRI, CAT scan, pathology studies, etc. to determine the maintainability of any such claim.

Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

In a medical malpractice lawsuit, existence of duty of care towards the patient, negligence/failure in providing care, and damages to the patient by the negligence/failure has to be proved. Apart from providing damages for the loss suffered by the patient, a malpractice suit also keeps doctors from taking any careless action or making medical mistakes in future.

Compensatory damages are awarded in a medical malpractice case for psychological or physical harm, emotional distress or pain suffered by the patient. Economical damages are also awarded, and these include financial losses, wage loss, life care expenses, and medical expenses.

Getting Legal Advice Regarding Medical Negligence Claims

Advice of a medical malpractice attorney can be of great help as follows:

• To decide whether it is worth pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit.
• An experienced medical malpractice attorney or a firm utilizes Board Certified Medical experts for opinions and testimony on negligence/failure in service.
• To reach a settlement instead of taking the case to trial. This saves the time, money and energy required to fight a court battle.
• To minimize the chances of being misled by the tactics of the insurance company or an unfavorable settlement.

While medical malpractice cases themselves are very complex, and incredibly expensive to pursue, getting legal advice from a medical malpractice attorney about a potential claim is not. Talk to a medical malpractice attorney if you believe you or a loved one has been treated negligently and caused harm by a medical professional.