Legitimate Medical Malpractice Claims

Simply because you’ve experienced an injury while being cared for by a doctor doesn’t mean you have a case for medical malpractice. Whether you may ask a court for compensation because of your suffering depends on three factors. Here are the elements you need in order to sue, as explained by an medical malpractice lawyer from Ward & Ward Law Firm.

1. Liability

For a judge to entertain your argument, you must have evidence that the individual treating you acted in an irresponsible manner. An example would be a surgeon leaving a foreign object inside of you during an operation. This scenario requires further surgery and creates additional pain, emotional trauma, and medical expense. One could make a strong argument that your doctor should be required to pay for this added care. Another case would be if your doctor was intoxicated or deliberately careless during treatment. In these types of instances, social media posts demonstrating that there was a lack of concern for your wellbeing, such as pictures of nurses using their phones or being distracted, would help you win in court.

2. Causation

You need the ability to prove a link between a doctor’s care and your continuing health complications. Perhaps you were screened for cancer and a tumor went unrecognized. Believing you were cancer-free and not pursuing invasive removal or chemotherapy would allow it time to grow, making survival less likely and more difficult to treat. Documentation showing that your screening was improperly handled would assist this sort of case. The administration of unnecessary medication that creates long-term side effects could also be cause for litigation. In many medical malpractice suits, testimony from an expert is used to illustrate the connection between a patient’s care and their secondary injury. Medical malpractice attorneys are able to seek authorities who can strengthen your odds of winning.

3. Damages

Petitioning the court for monetary compensation requires that you suffer significant financial hardship because of the defendant’s actions. In addition to increased medical expenses, your monetary burden could be compounded by an inability to work. You might also reasonably demand payment for the infliction of unnecessary physical and emotional harm. If the financial strain of a medical mistake isn’t particularly great, it might make more sense to abstain from filing a lawsuit and instead accept the amount an insurance company offers.

We expect medical professionals to treat us with competency and compassion. When they deviate from this assumption, the results can be devastating. Those who commit avoidable errors should be held responsible for their misconduct. Victims are advised to consider hiring a medical malpractice lawyer to have their questions answered and to hold the guilty accountable.