Medical professionals must provide their patients with the best care possible. When they fail to meet this standard, the consequences for their patients can be devastating. A recent report reveals that negligence by physicians and other health care professionals causes between 44,000 and 98,000 deaths in the United States every year. If a medical professional’s negligence has injured you or a loved one, you might decide you need to contact a medical malpractice lawyer after your incident.
Savannah Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help
A medical malpractice lawyer can help you seek justice for the harm done to you or a loved one by seeking compensation from those responsible for your injury. These claims can be difficult to pursue because they require the assistance of medical experts to testify on your behalf and help prove your claim. Your lawyer will be able to communicate on your behalf with the experts needed to strengthen your claim.
A lawyer can investigate your claim, identify all liable parties, file your claim as per the law, and negotiate for the maximum settlement possible. Medical malpractice, also known as medical negligence, is one of the most specialized areas of personal injury law. These cases are often highly complex, requiring a lot of investigation and preparation to be successfully pursued.
Types of Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice occurs when a patient is harmed due to a negligent act or omission on the part of a healthcare provider. Several different types of medical negligence can occur, including:
- Surgical Errors: This can include leaving a foreign object in the body after surgery, performing an operation on the wrong side or part of the body, performing unnecessary surgery, or operating on an incorrect patient.
- Diagnostic Errors: This can include making a misdiagnosis, failing to diagnose, or failing to order necessary tests.
- Medication Errors: This can include giving the wrong medication, giving medication in the wrong dose, or administering it by the wrong route.
- Anesthesia Errors: This can include giving too much anesthesia, not enough anesthesia, or inadequate monitoring while under anesthesia.
- Birth Injuries: A birth injury is considered medical negligence if there’s proof that it was caused by an act or omission on the part of a healthcare provider.
- Emergency Room Errors: This includes any errors in an emergency room setting, e.g., the failure to diagnose and treat severe symptoms or conditions, like heart attacks, thus worsening the patient’s condition or leading to death.
Proving Liability in Medical Malpractice Claim
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional doesn’t treat a patient per a reasonable standard of care, causing injury or death. The victim must prove the following factors exist to win a medical malpractice lawsuit:
- Duty: The healthcare provider owed the patient a duty of care, so your lawyer can establish this by simply demonstrating the doctor-patient relationship.
- Breach of Duty: The medical professional breached their duty of care by acting negligently or failing to act reasonably under the circumstances.
- Causation: Since the healthcare provider couldn’t treat the patient as a competent and prudent professional would have in a similar situation, your lawyer will prove that the breach caused the injury.
- Damages: Actual damages must be shown to have resulted from the injury. This could include past and future medical expenses, loss of income, pain and suffering, etc.
Given that proving liability is challenging in a medical malpractice case, consider working with an attorney from the beginning to get expert help in building a solid case. Depending on your case, a lawyer will collect evidence, develop a strategy to strengthen the case and seek maximum compensation for your injuries.
Liable Parties in a Medical Malpractice Case
Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional’s treatment of a patient falls below the standard of care in that area of medicine. When a physician or other medical professional fails to meet the standard of care and causes an injury to a patient, that practitioner can be held liable. Just as there are many different types of medical professionals, there are many liable parties in medical malpractice cases, including:
- A hospital or medical facility
- Doctors and nurses
- Other medical staff, such as technicians
- Medical staff at another facility, if the malpractice occurred during the transfer from one facility to another
- Manufacturers of medical devices
- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), if it failed to issue a recall on a defective product
Compensation in a Medical Malpractice Claim
When you see a doctor or seek medical advice, you trust that you’ll receive the best possible service. When your health worsens because of negligent care, the consequences can be devastating. You might be entitled to compensation for injuries and losses incurred due to medical negligence. Medical malpractice victims can obtain the following types of compensation through settlement negotiations or lawsuits:
Medical Expenses
The cost of treating an illness or injury can be enormous. In some cases, the victim will never fully recover from their injuries and will require continuous treatment over many years. You shouldn’t incur these costs if negligent care caused your condition.
Lost Wages or Diminished Earning Capacity
A severe injury can interfere with your ability to work and earn a living, causing you to lose income now and in the future. Your lawyer will represent you and assist you in recovering these lost wages through a medical malpractice claim.
Physical Pain and Suffering
When you’ve been injured by medical malpractice, it’s common to endure physical pain and mental suffering due to your injuries. In some cases, compensation for this damage also includes an award for emotional distress or trauma due to the injury, such as post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) following medical malpractice.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are court-awarded if the healthcare provider was grossly negligent or reckless in their actions. These aren’t intended to compensate you — they’re intended as punishment for the negligent party and a warning against others who may act similarly. These damages are rare in medical malpractice cases because they require extreme recklessness or negligence.
Contact the Dolman Law Group
If you are a victim of a medical error in Savannah, you should seek legal help to investigate your case and discover your options. Medical malpractice claims are complex to pursue, but it’s certainly something that you should explore when injured by the negligence of others. At the Dolman Law Group, we’re ready to handle your claim. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation.