Sometimes it’s fairly easy to know that you have been the victim of medical malpractice. The infectious disease specialist you are seeing tells you the orthopedic surgeon installed the plates in your leg upside down and backwards causing the bone to die. The orthopedic surgeon has told you it was just a common staph infection when you were in truth in danger of losing your leg due to acts of medical malpractice. If you suspect that you have been the victim of medical malpractice it is vital to get another doctor’s opinion on your medical condition and the appropriate course of treatment. Doctors routinely cover up for each other so take care in who you ask to review possible misdeeds of what may be a medical colleague. And if the doctor you ask for a second opinion won’t look into things for you ask a third and a forth. Try to research the problem yourself at your local library or at your hospital’s medical library and if your malpractice suspicions seem to be correct contact a medical malpractice attorney concerning your injury.
Elements of a Malpractice Claim
All medical malpractice claims require essentially the same basic elements for an actionable instance of medical malpractice to exist.
- A duty of care was owed the patient by the physician or healthcare provider
- That duty of care was breached by physician failure to conform to the relevant standard of medical care.
- The breach of the standard of care must be shown by expert testimony, or in the case of obvious errors such as an act involving, “res ipsa loquitur,” the negligent act by the physician speaks for itself without need for expert testimony.
- The breach of duty caused either a direct injury or was the proximate cause of an injury to the patient.
- Damages
When trying to establish that you have been the victim of medical malpractice it may be important to evidence that surgically implanted devices were installed improperly or that you were never offered life saving diagnostic testing and that as a result a deadly form of cancer went undiagnosed and untreated.
Getting Legal Help
If you or a member of your family has been injured by healthcare provider negligence it would be important to contact a medical malpractice lawyer to discuss the circumstances of the incidence of medical malpractice and the injury. An attorney can review the medical situation that may have caused injury to determine if a malpractice action is indicated and take the necessary steps to protect the injured patient’s rights.
