What Qualifies As Medical Malpractice?

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When you go to your doctor, you expect to feel better and hope to have your health issues sorted after the visit. Unfortunately, it is not the case often. Doctors, nurses, and healthcare workers spend most of their lives trying to learn how to take care of the ill and relieve their suffering. Even with vast experience and knowledge, they tend to commit errors during treatment. Naive, inexperienced, or not up-to-par physicians exist in all fields of medicine. Whether you are injured from a substandard surgery or suffered unnecessarily due to misdiagnosis, medical malpractice brings a complex set of personal injuries. According to a study, more than 250,000 deaths per year are due to medical errors in the states. 

But what exactly is defined as medical malpractice? 

Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor, or other health care professional, through negligence or omission, causes harm to a patient. The neglect might be the repercussion of errors during diagnosis, treatment, or health management. You must be mindful that the injury to the patient is not necessarily concerned with physical health but includes mental health and financial stress.

There are few things worse than realizing that the pain and loss you or a loved one endured resulted from medical negligence or preventable errors. However, only a few cases are reported or brought to court to seek justice. People often think a malpractice lawsuit is too long and too expensive, and they might not even be able to get justice. However, these are just misconceptions, and to get authentic information, you should contact an experienced professional. These days, it’s as simple as Googling medical malpractice lawyers Memphis TN. 

For a case to be considered medical malpractice, it must have the following four key legal elements.  

1. PROFESSIONAL DUTY WAS OWED TO THE PATIENT

A duty exists only where a relationship exists. A patient-physician relationship must be established. Here the patient will have to present proof of being under the care of the accused doctor. The patient will have to show medical bills or receipts and prescriptions from that health professional as proof. For instance, if a doctor is off-duty and is having lunch at an eatery, they’re generally not obliged to provide care for other customers who have a medical emergency. However, it’s another story if the doctor volunteers their service. 

The legal duty in a negligence case is to provide the patient with a medical standard of care. It means that doctor is responsible for providing the same care as another doctor with the same training, skills and knowledge would provide under similar conditions. In a court case where medical malpractice is claimed, the standard of care is usually stated by taking the testimony of experts about accepted practices in the medical community for the procedure or treatment under inquiry.

2. BREACH OF DUTY EXISTED 

After establishing the patient-doctor relation and the standard of care, the plaintiff’s lawyer must prove there was a deviation from the said standard. In other words, plaintiff has to show the doctor’s negligence. It may include misdiagnoses, recommending unnecessary or dangerous treatments, misinterpreting test results, recommending improper medications or dosage amounts, and employing improper surgical techniques. In a court case, medical experts are required to demonstrate how a doctor’s treatment fell short of the standard imposed by law.  

3. BREACH OF DUTY CAUSED THE INJURY

For a medical malpractice claim to be valid, it is not sufficient that the health professional performs an act of negligence. It brings us to the third component which is to prove that the injury plaintiff sustained was a result of the act of omission by the health professional. These injuries may be physical, mental, emotional, or financial in nature. A causal relation is made by showing that the patient’s condition worsened because of the doctor’s negligence and would not have occurred in absence of this negligence.

For example, a patient after a road traffic accident requires a blood transfusion but is otherwise healthy. In such a scenario if the doctor transfuses blood without screening and later the patient is diagnosed with HIV/HCV, it will require the patient to be on life-long medications. The plaintiff can prove the illness he was diagnosed with was due to the doctor’s act of omission. In contrast, if a doctor makes an error, but the patient is not injured, there is no valid malpractice claim.

4. DAMAGES 

Damages represent the losses in a medical malpractice claim. These are meant to compensate the victim for the losses they sustained as a consequence of medical malpractice. Plaintiff receives punitive and compensatory damages.

Economic damages, loss of earning capacity, and treatment expenses may be included in compensatory damages. Usually, an estimate of future and past losses is taken out. Non-economic may also be included in compensatory damages. These assess the injury itself, physical and psychological distress, such as emotional trauma, extreme pain, or losing vision or the ability to walk. 

Punitive damages are awarded if the health professional is found guilty of malicious or deliberate misconduct. It is essentially punishment. For example, the doctor is involved in sexual misconduct towards the patient or commits willful destruction of medical records.

To prove the injuries sustained, the patient must produce medical bills and show that the injury resulted in the loss of earning capacity or unusual pain, suffering, and hardship.

WHAT ARE THE COMMON TYPES OF MEDICAL MALPRACTICE? 

• Surgical errors

One of the most common acts of omission is a surgical error, where often the surgical team leaves sponges or tools inside the body or may operate on the wrong body part/organ.

• Misdiagnosis

Failure to give an accurate diagnosis has consequences on the health of the patient, which delays the appropriate treatment and worsens the prognosis of the disease.

• Inadequate treatment

It includes failure to treat the disease per the acceptable standard of care even after making an accurate diagnosis. Discharging a patient too soon or the lack of follow-up care fall in the bracket of inadequate treatment.

Regardless of the reason for medical attention, a patient may receive care below expectations or even legal obligation. There is no doubt that lawsuits tend to be costly, time-consuming, and stressful. However, they should not make you shy away from raising your voice against the injustice toward your health and well-being. Medical negligence cases can be hard to deal with on your own, so we recommend you look into experienced medical malpractice lawyers who will help you have greater chances of success. We hope the odds are in your favor! If we missed anything, let us know in the comments below.