here are people who hold adverse opinions concerning medical lawsuit cases. They often and loudly tell anyone who will listen that medical lawsuit cases are entirely frivolous causes of actions intended to clog up court dockets with worthless and futile cases destined for immediate dismissal by the court which only serve to obstruct access to courts by more genuinely meritorious cases like bankruptcies and auto accident personal injury cases. Well, that’s the story put out by the medical malpractice insurance carrier industry and their respective healthcare provider clients. And, as always, they seem to be trying to stick with it in spite of studies finding numbers of acts of medical negligence resulting in severe patient injury are through the roof.
Frivolous v. Meritorious Malpractice Cases
Many frivolous medical malpractice cases arise where a patient has suffered what the medical community refers to as a "bad outcome." Bad outcomes happen when the promised medical miracle never materializes and the patient becomes angry and upset while paying the huge medical bills covering the cost of the failed procedure. However, a bad outcome, not matter how devastating, is not genuine grounds for a medical malpractice action. A sound medical malpractice action must be based on some act of professional negligence, "a bad act or failure to act" in breach of the standard of care expected of a competent healthcare provider which results in patient injury. The main and significant difference between the two is that a “bad outcome” can happen even where the patient received nothing but the very best medical care and treatment but a “bad act or failure to act” breaching the standard of care resulting in an injury to a patient is an act of professional negligence which is properly actionable in a malpractice lawsuit. That is the essential line separating the frivolous medical action from a meritorious medical malpractice case is some act of professional negligence.
Getting Legal Help
If you or a member of your family need legal help to address an injury that resulted from an act of medical negligence or professional malpractice by a healthcare provider it is important to contact a medical malpractice attorney and to discuss the situation that gave rise to the injury with him. The attorney will thoroughly investigate the circumstances of the injury and if indicated he will assist the injured person in filing a fully legitimate and judiciously appropriate medical malpractice claim against the negligent healthcare provider.
