What Is Medical Malpractice And How Can You Prove It

When you go to the doctor, you expect to be treated by an expert - someone who can cure or help treat whatever ailment you are experiencing. You expect them to have your best interest at heart and you trust them with your life. On rare occasions, you may have an experience with a doctor that leads to an unfortunate ending such as a mistreatment of a disease or a wrongful death. It’s important to know what medical malpractice is and how you can prove it in order to file a lawsuit against the hospital or doctor.

What is medical malpractice?

When a hospital, doctor, or other health care provider causes injury to a patient due to negligence it’s considered medical malpractice. This could result in a misdiagnosis or mistreatment. In short, medical malpractice is when a patient is harmed by a doctor who failed to perform their duties as a medical professional.

Medical malpractice usually falls into a few main categories: failure to diagnose, improper treatment, and failure to let a patient know about the risks associated with the treatment plan. You’ll hear stories about doctors who left a sponge in a patient during surgery, but malpractice also applies to your doctor not telling you about the dangerous side effect of a prescription drug. Malpractice also includes misdiagnosing or failing to diagnose a condition that an otherwise competent doctor would have diagnosed.

How can you prove medical malpractice?

Medical malpractice is a serious charge and therefore you will need to prove your claim in order to be compensated. Here are a few things you need to know before taking legal action against a hospital or doctor.

• You must have an official relationship with the doctor you are suing. You need to have had an official appointment and prove that you “hired” the doctor to treat your illness. You can’t bring a claim upon someone who gave you advice at a party or through a friend.

• The doctor must have been negligent with their treatment or diagnosis. This is key for proving malpractice. Even if you disagree with their diagnosis or treatment plan, it’s not considered medical malpractice unless they were being negligent about your care. Many states require you to obtain and third party medical expert to investigate whether or not the doctor in question was competent and gave you the appropriate care given your situation.

• You were injured in some way as a result of the doctor or hospital’s negligence. It must be a direct correlation between the negligence and the injury. Even if you were already sick or injured when you went to see the doctor, you need to prove that what the doctor did furthered your injuries. If your injury could also be related to your sickness, it will be harder to prove malpractice because your symptoms are common for someone suffering from that illness.

Malpractice lawsuits can be tricky so it’s important to know exactly what you believe was considered medical malpractice. Gather evidence that you believe points to malpractice and reach out to a medical malpractice lawyer Salt Lake City, UT relies on who can help you get the compensation you deserve.

Thank you to our friends and contributors at Rasmussen & Miner Attorneys at Law for their insight into medical malpractice cases.