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.
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