After the attorney(s), the expert witness are the most important actors in a medical negligence case, since they are the ones who let the plaitiff (the injured patient) prove medical negligence.
Medical Negligence is Necessary for Liability
The fact that a medical procedure had a bad outcome does not, by itself, mean that an injured patient can receive compensation. Instead, medical malpractice—or “bad” practice—means that a medical professional or institution was unreasonably careless, or negligent, in some way. Essentially, the doctor, clinic, hospital, etc. must have provided care that was not up to the accepted standards of the medical profession. Unless carelessness or negligence can be shown, there will be no liability and no obligation to pay.
The Need for Expertise
What is the accepted standard of medical care? The average patient does not know when he or she goes in for treatment—and still doesn’t necessarily know afterwards, when contemplating a lawsuit. More importantly, judges and juries don’t know, either. Instead, there has to someone—an expert witness—who can tell everyone what should have been done, and why what was done instead is unacceptable.
Who Are the Experts?
Medical expert witnesses are usually doctors—after all, who better to know what is accepted medical care than someone who provides it? There are other people who might be good experts as well—knowledgeable physical therapists, pharmacists, medical school professors, nurses, lab technicians, etc.—but what they all have in common is that they themselves are medical professionals of one type or another.
Duel of the Experts
Of course, the plaintiff is not the only one who will have expert witnesses testifying as to what constitutes acceptable care. The defendant—the doctor or hospital being sued—will have its own expert(s), who will try to show that everything that should have been done was done. Medicine is as much an art as a science; often, there is no single “right” answer for medical care, so it’s commonly possible to find honest, knowledgeable experts who come to opposite conclusions.
How an Attorney Can Help
Malpractice cases can NOT be won without expert witnesses—in fact, judges will often throw cases out early, if there is no expert testimony or support, because lay people simply cannot speak intelligently about medical care. Moreover, it’s vital to have a persuasive, articulate, well-credentialed expert—having a good expert is often the difference between winning and losing. An attorney can help an injured patient make sure he or she gets the best expert testimony possible.
