subject: Categories Of Medical Negligence: Do You Have A Case? [print this page] Medical malpractice lawsuits have escalated in the last few years and received media attention for damages awarded by courts and exposure of negligent medical attention by health care providers.
Medical malpractice happens when a health care provider does not provide medical treatment to acceptable professional standards, or subjects a patient to a form of treatment a competent health care provider would not have administered. Professional standards vary according to the occupation of the health care provider. For instance, an emergency doctor has a different degree of standards than a nurse. The health care provider can be a physician, nurse, anesthesiologist, dentist, therapist, or other medical professional.
One category of medical malpractice occurs when a health care provider does not inform a patient of risks associated with a certain procedure. It must be proven that the patient, as a reasonable person, would not have undergone the treatment if he had known of the possible consequences.
Another classification of medical malpractice is improper treatment. In this instance, the health care provider does not act reasonably and carefully in accordance with current treatments due to lack of expertise and/or education. An example is surgery on the wrong body part.
A further type of medical malpractice is failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis. Health care practitioners are not expected to diagnosis every medical condition as some diseases can be impossible to detect. However, health care providers are expected to investigate symptoms of conditions for which there are diagnostic tests. Misdiagnosis occurs if a health care provider informs a patient he has a particular disease, such a cancer, when he does not or advises the patient he has a specific medical condition when he actually has a different illness.
A patient, or a family member if the patient died, has the right to pursue damages through a medical malpractice suit. It must be proven that the health care provider owed the patient a duty of care, that the duty of care was breached, that the breach resulted in injury, and that the patient suffered damages. Damages can consist of financial losses for medical expenses, wage loss, and funeral expenses. Malpractice lawsuits are expensive to conduct and many take years to conclude. State statutes may limit the amount of damages a patient can recover.
