What is Considered a Medical Malpractice Case?

When you go to a doctor, you trust that he or she will help to make you better – or at least not make your condition worse. However, unfortunately for hundreds of thousands of Americans, who suffer injuries or die due to medical errors or negligence, the latter becomes their reality.

Despite rightful expectations that you will be treated with the highest medical standards of care, medical malpractice in the United States is not rare. In fact, as much as 10 percent of all deaths in the U.S. are due to medical error. To put this into perspective, medical error is the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. after heart disease and cancer.

This isn’t to say that people should be distrusting of doctors. Rather, it’s important to understand what is – and isn’t – considered medical malpractice and when you may have a case for your injuries.

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical or health care professional or provider either acts or fails to act in a manner that doesn’t meet the appropriate standard of care. This negligence can occur as the result of one individual’s action or inaction or of an entire medical institution or facility.

However, what you must also understand is that just because a medical outcome is negative or not what you’d hoped for, it doesn’t automatically mean that it is medical malpractice. Sometimes a doctor or other medical professional can do everything “right” and a patient can still end up with an unwanted outcome. If doctors were held to the impossible standard of always having to obtain a favorable outcome or risk facing medical malpractice, it would prevent them from being able to carry out the responsibilities of their job. After all, most medical treatments inherently have at least some risk.

Instead of looking at only the outcome of medical treatment, the law looks at the standard of care: that which another medical professional in the same or similar situation would do. In other words, it asks whether the treating medical professional followed the appropriate medical procedures that have been established within the medical community for treating a specific condition.

Medical malpractice only occurs when a negative medical outcome results from a violation or misapplication of a medical professional’s standard of care.

Common Types of Medical Malpractice

There are many different types of medical malpractice. Some of the most common types include:

● Failure to diagnose

● Wrong diagnosis

● Misinterpretation of test results

● Ordering incorrect tests

● Unnecessary surgery

● Failure to account for test results

● Failure to account for medical history

● Providing the wrong medication

● Providing the wrong dosage of medication

● Surgical error

In order for a patient to receive compensation for his or her injuries caused by medical malpractice, he or she must have sustained significant damages. Such damages may include:

● Significant or permanent disability

● High medical bills

● Significant loss of income

● Unusual pain and suffering

One of the most difficult aspects of medical malpractice is recognizing it. Since symptoms may be delayed by days or even weeks, it can be difficult to recognize that they are associated with the prior medical treatment or procedure. Additionally, some symptoms are associated with a multitude of conditions, only furthering the confusion.

So How Might You Know That You Have a Medical Malpractice Claim?

There are a few signs that you may have a legitimate medical malpractice claim:

1. A healthcare provider informs you that something didn’t go right;

2. You never provided informed consent either of the specific treatment you received or you weren’t sufficiently informed of the associated risks and benefits; or

3. You have experienced very unusual outcomes or have suffered extreme consequences following the treatment or procedure.

Contact a Qualified Medical Malpractice Attorney

Without being expressly informed by a healthcare provider that something didn’t go the way it should have, it can still be very difficult to know that medical malpractice has occurred. That’s why if you believe that you may have suffered negative medical outcomes as the result of medical negligence, you can contact a qualified Tennessee medical malpractice attorney. Here at Robert Bates and Associates, we will fight with you!

Robert BatesRobert is a Kingsport trial lawyer who handles car, truck and motorcycle wreck cases across the Tri-Cities. Every client gets his cell number.