Monday, April 11, 2016

Do You have a Medical Malpractice Case?




People from all Continents come to the United States to have complicated procedures performed by doctors here in the United States. We are fortunate to have some of the most well-respected, experienced and prominent doctors in the world providing us with unsurpassed medical care. However, even with the latest technologies and advanced medicine, doctors, nurses, surgeons, pharmacists and other medical professionals do make mistakes. Many medical malpractice cases have involved patients who have suffered debilitating injuries, serious ongoing health complications and some have even ended in death. 

If you have received medical treatment and you believe the medical professional may have been negligent with your care causing you to suffer complications and health problems, you may be wondering if you have a medical malpractice case.

There are two key factors in determining a medical malpractice case:
A medical professional made a mistake while you were in their care.
You were, in fact, harmed by that mistake. 

Medical Malpractice Defined
Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or any other medical professional, such as a physician’s assistant or a nurse, provides inappropriate care or makes a mistake. That inappropriate care or mistake causes injury or some other type of harm to the patient. When this happens, the medical professional’s act (or failure to act,) is referred to as an omission or medical negligence. 

 When does Medical Negligence Occur?
An omission, or medical negligence, can occur at any time during medical treatment. For instance, a doctor may misdiagnose an illness and prescribe the wrong treatment or a surgeon may perform an operation on the wrong body part. 

What is Required to File a Medical Malpractice Claim?
To show medical malpractice occurred, the patient must be able to prove the following to file a claim:

•    There was a relationship between the medical professional and the patient. The patient must be able to show that he had a relationship with the medical professional. In other words, the patient hired the doctor he is filing the claim against, and that doctor agreed to be hired by the patient. A person cannot sue a doctor if that doctor gave him medical advice at a party, and the doctor was not hired by the patient. 

•    The medical professional was negligent. Negligence on behalf of the medical professional must be proven. A person cannot sue a doctor because he is unhappy with the treatment that he received; he must be able to show that the doctor caused harm to a patient by providing the wrong treatment when another competent doctor would not have caused the same harm. 

•    The injury was caused by negligence. There must be solid proof that the injury an individual suffered from was the direct result of the medical professional’s negligence.

•    The injury caused specific damages. The patient must have suffered or be suffering damages that are the direct result of the medical professional’s negligence. Specific damages include:

o    Physical pain
o    Mental anguish
o    Additional medical expenses
o    Inability to work and loss of wages

The above information is a basic summary of medical malpractice, and each case can be complicated and very different from on to another. An experienced medical malpractice attorney will have the knowledge and experience to ensure that all the evidence of harm done to a patient is not overlooked. 

If you or a loved one may have been a victim of medical malpractice, call Siler and Ingber, LLP for a free consultation at 1-877-529-4343. We are a Law Firm with a team of experienced attorneys who fully understand the law regarding medical malpractice cases. We will fight to defend your rights in your medical malpractice case because we care about our clients and their well-being. All cases are handled on a contingency basis, so there is no fee if there is no recovery.


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