Your Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Guide
If a product harms you, you know you can sue the manufacturer. However, when a professional provides a service, you can still sue if they commit malpractice. Medical malpractice is incredibly common and can lead to many issues. If you would like to know more about medical malpractice and lawsuits, keep reading.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice refers to errors and omissions. For example, if your doctor didn't provide appropriate care for your condition, they omitted to act, or they gave substandard treatment, it could be considered medical malpractice. To qualify as malpractice, however, treatment or lack of treatment must cause harm, injury, or wrongful death.
Typically, when considering medical malpractice, the courts will consider what is reasonable treatment. Therefore, even if your doctor claimed they didn't know you had a certain condition, they may be held responsible if the courts determine another reasonable doctor would have caught the condition.
Typically, to pursue a medical malpractice claim, the damages should be considerable. This could include suffering, constant pain, loss of income, disability, and much more. Some of the most common types of medical malpractice include misdiagnosis, failure to diagnose, unnecessary surgery, not following up, prescribing the wrong medication/dosage, operating on the wrong body part, and leaving things inside the body after surgery.
Who Can Commit Medical Malpractice?
Naturally, doctors and surgeons are often accused of medical malpractice. For this reason, they always have a good amount of errors and omissions insurance coverage to pay for any lawsuits related to medical malpractice.
However, in some states, nurses can be sued for medical malpractice. Other states require you to sue to doctor the nurse worked under at the time of the accident. Pharmacists can also be held responsible for medical malpractice if they give the patient a different drug/dosage than the doctor ordered. Typically, the hospital or urgent care center in which the medical malpractice occurred can be held responsible too.
What Can You Do if You Were the Victim of Medical Malpractice?
If you were the victim of medical malpractice, you can usually sue anyone responsible. If you win, you can get money for medical bills, lost income, pain and suffering, and even punitive damages if the provider was particularly negligent.
If your loved one was the victim of medical malpractice that resulted in wrongful death, you may be able to sue on their behalf. Usually, a spouse can file a wrongful death claim if their partner dies. Parents can file if their child passes, and children may be able to sue if their parents are victims of wrongful death. The settlement considers how much money the patient would have provided and what services they provided (cleaning the house, caring for the children, etc.).
If you've been the victim of medical malpractice, you should contact an attorney. They can fight on your behalf, and they have the skills and training needed to negotiate a fair settlement. Get started today by contacting a medical malpractice compensation lawyer in your area today.