A crucial element of any medical malpractice claim or legal action involving medical malpractice entails a patient proving, from a legally viable perspective, that his or her doctor was negligent when performing medical services, whether in treatment, diagnosis, or otherwise. In a medical malpractice case, the crux of the strongest claims lies in the ability of the patient to prove negligence, or in short, a breach of the standard of care. While certain claims may rely on res ipsa loquitur arguments (the thing speaks for itself), the relative complexity of modern medical science, and the variable nature of standard of care in a given patient’s situation, often requires legal counsel’s assistance when determining negligence.
The Role of Duty of Care and Breach in Proving Negligence
In any medical malpractice case, a patient must prove that negligence occurred, in order to recover damages. However, determining negligence is done only on a case-by-case basis, which requires the patient to prove that his or her specific medical treatment or evaluation involved a breach of the standard duty of care. In short, most cases will rely on the testimony of one or more expert witnesses to prove a breach of the standard duty of care, in certain states, proving negligence requires expert testimony per the state’s malpractice statutes.
While the above information is relevant to an ongoing claims case, many patients (especially before consulting with a lawyer) will question whether their given treatment or evaluation was definitively negligent in nature. Aside from personal feelings of poor care or a rough bedside manner so to speak, a patient can determine whether his or her doctor was negligent (to some degree of accuracy) through the following manners:
- Often, a patient will learn about doctor errors, mistakes, or mistreatment only after consulting with another doctor to address ongoing ailments, correct past mistakes, or address further medical damages caused by a previous treatment. While by no means a definitive method to determine negligence, it is a good barometer for most patients to determine what and if something went wrong with another doctor’s care.
- In many instances, especially with medical malpractice cases, lawyers will offer a free consultation meeting, which can not only inform the patient of their potential legal rights, but also outline a plan of action to recover damages. In many cases, a lawyer can discern (whether from experience or the information provided by the patient) whether a given case involves viable negligence claims or not rather quickly.
Getting Legal Help with Doctor Negligence Complications and Claims
In short, the only effective way to determine whether you have a viable claim of doctor negligence is to ask a professional, typically a medical malpractice lawyer. While an expert witness and other medical professional testimony may be used to bolster a claim, only a lawyer can make concrete determinations regarding negligence, breach, and duty of care in light of the applicable laws in your state, as well as the factors relevant to your case.
