In any medical malpractice case, the most complicated and difficult part is establishing that the doctor or medical professional involved breached the duty of care and practiced negligently. In order to accomplish this, an expert medical witness must be consulted and hired to investigate the details of the claim, and determine if and how the defendant was negligent.
Who Can Act as Expert Witness?
In most cases of medical malpractice, the expert medical witness must be a practicing, licensed, medical doctor with sufficient experience in the specialty of medicine involved in the case.
For example, in a case of surgical negligence, it will likely be a surgeon that investigates the details of the case in order to establish what the defendant did that deviated from the standard of medical care.
Establishing Negligence
The purpose of the expert medical witness is to prove one very critical element of a strong medical malpractice case. Establishing negligence requires someone with extensive knowledge and experience in medicine, as well as a good understanding of the procedure or treatment that caused the patients injury.
Expert Certificate of Merit
In many states, the expert medical witness must provide a certificate of merit before the case can even be filed with the court of jurisdiction.
This is done to filter out frivolous cases, and save the courts time for meritorious cases. While this is not a requirement in every state, most medical malpractice attorneys will consult with an expert medical witness before pursuing a claim, to ensure that their client has a legitimate case before going on.
What Happens if Negligence is Not Established?
If it cannot be determined that the doctor or medical professional acted negligently, then their is no grounds for a medical malpractice case, unless the claim is based on intentional tort, such as purposely manipulating medical records, which is rare.
Ultimately, anyone injured by a hospital or medical professional will need to consult with a qualified medical malpractice attorney to find out if they have a valid case. Most medical malpractice lawyers have medical experts on staff or nearby to investigate potential claims for malpractice and medical negligence.
