Our law firm is committed to protecting members of the public from the intentional and/or negligent acts of those to whom they entrust their care.
The tort of medical malpractice happens when a medical doctor, directly or through an agent (i.e. another medical practitioner, a nurse, therapist, etc.) harms a patient by failing or neglecting to competently perform his or her medical duties.
There are certain basic requirements that have to be present prior to prevailing on a medical malpractice claim:
- There must be a medical doctor – patient relationship between you (the patient who claims to have been harmed) and the doctor / medical practitioner being sued. You must have hired or selected the medical doctor for your treatment and the latter must also have accepted being so hired. Thus, there must have existed a physician-patient relationship
- The doctor / medical practitioner must have been NEGLIGENT regarding diagnosis or treatment of your condition and his or her negligence caused your injury. For you, the patient, to prevail on a medical malpractice claim, there must be a showing that the harm caused you by the treating physician was one that a competent medical doctor or similar practitioner, operating under the same circumstances and under a “reasonably skillful and careful” standard, would not have caused. In other words, there must have been a violation of a widely-acknowledged “standard of care”.
This standard will often be reiterated or expounded upon by a medical expert during trial.
There must also be a nexus or connection between the injury you, the patient, suffered as a result of the medical doctor’s incompetence or negligence and the treatment received from the medical doctor.
The types of harm for which relief can be sought under a medical malpractice claim include: physical pain; mental anguish; and lost work / lost future earning capacity, among others.
Circumstances or fact patterns in which medical malpractice claims have been upheld include the following: improper medication or dosage administration; poor follow-up or aftercare; premature hospital discharge; failure to order proper testing; inability to spot or recognize symptoms; surgery on wrong body site; misreading / ignoring laboratory results; and unnecessary surgery, among others.
Contact us if you believe you have a malpractice claim against a medical doctor or any other relevant medical personnel.