What is medical malpractice?
Medical malpractice is an action or omission by a healthcare provider that does not meet the acceptable standard of care that other healthcare providers would have provided under similar circumstances, resulting in an injury to the patient.
The doctors need years of experience and medical practice to treat the patients efficiently and effectively. Not only is the education process vigorous, but even the medical boards oversee the physician's conduct to prevent any possible harm to the patient's physical and mental health.
What are the two conditions that must exist for a medical malpractice case?
The first condition is that the health care provider gave a medical treatment that did not meet the already established standards. The second condition states the provider's action or ignorance resulted in a severe and verifiable injury.
What could be an example of a medical malpractice case?
A prescription error could become a lawsuit. If the patient clearly mentions his medical history or the things he is allergic to, and even then the doctor prescribes such medications which will not suit the patient or if he does not prescribe any safety pills along with heavy medications, he is susceptible to a prescription error and can be held liable for this malpractice. If the patient suffers an allergic reaction after clearly defining his allergies to the doctor, the doctor is answerable for ignoring the medical history provided.
What legal arguments a patient might have?
If the doctor prescribes a wrong medication that causes an adverse reaction to the patient, it is clearly a medical error, but it may not be considered malpractice. The patient can claim that the impact of taking the wrong medicine was huge and it requires long-term care and treatment.
What is an important consideration to claim a malpractice case?
To successfully pursue a medical malpractice case, there has to be a severe injury. Suppose the treatment prescribed by the doctor causes extreme side effects such as fluctuations in the blood count, abnormal heartbeat, disrupted esophagus, disturbed stomach or trachea, liver damage, exertion on kidney's function leading to serious infections as nephritis etc. In that case, the lawsuit is valid and strong.
Is the conduct and treatment of the doctor acceptable?
In a personal injury lawsuit for medical malpractice, the prime reason and protest is that the healthcare provider's actions must have fallen far below the medical standard established by the other providers. This means that the doctor has committed some serious mistake that has led to some serious consequences.
To be considered malpractice, the mistake would have been much greater than the mistakes that usually occur in the normal course of working at the hospitals or medical clinics.
Do you have a valid case?
You need to consult with an attorney who will represent you in a medical malpractice case. For an initial office consultation, many lawyers do not even charge the fee. If you want to know if you actually have a legitimate malpractice case, you need to get immediate consultancy by an experienced lawyer in this field.