Seek The Assistance Of A Medical Malpractice Lawyer
Our society holds the medical profession to a higher standard than almost any other profession
. We trust our lives and well being to doctors and nurses and we have faith that they will do what is right to protect and safe guard us. When something goes wrong due to negligence on the part of such professionals the results can be far more devastating than when something goes wrong with anything else in our lives.
Holding the medical professional and hospital accountable for damages when they are generally so highly revered can seem like an overwhelming obstacle for many patients. However having a malpractice lawyer can help guide clients through the confusing maze of not only the legal system to create accountability but also the medical system to establish malpractice has occurred. Malpractice is not as simple as a doctor or nurse making a mistake. The process to prove malpractice involves multiple elements being established.
The first element is to show that a duty was owed. Simply put this means if a person shows up in the emergency room with the symptoms of a heart attack or in labor with a baby, the hospital must act to give care. This is the duty owed. The second element is to show the medical professionals breached that duty. An example would be a patient not receiving care and giving birth in the waiting room with no care provided. Clearly the duty owed- medical help-was breached or denied.
The third element is to show harm was caused as a result. The harm in this example could be a baby born prematurely, dead or deprived of oxygen due to the lack of medical help needed to avoid this occurrence. The final element is to show that damage was done and although this may seem more subjective, a baby born prematurely can suffer a multitude of complications and a baby born deprived of oxygen will have the potential long term damages of brain damage as a result.
Sometimes it may not be a deliberate act that is seen as malpractice. A doctor who fails to test for a urinary tract infection despite a patient showing the expected symptoms for example has failed to perform a duty by deviating from the expected procedure to have a lab test performed. Although the oversight may not have been done with malicious intent it does breach the duty owed to the patient. The resulting harm can led to an undiagnosed condition that eventually leads to kidney damage.
Since malpractice can clearly be a complex thing to understand with so many variations that vary patient by patient, if malpractice is suspected a malpractice lawyer should be consulted to help those who feel they may have been harmed, to fully understand their legal rights so they can take the appropriate action towards accountably.