We put our trust in doctors and other medical professionals when we need help, but what happens when a trip to the clinic goes wrong, and you think you have a case for a malpractice suit? How can you prove that you were wronged and build a strong case? Getting the help of an experienced malpractice lawyer can be the answer.

Medical malpractice can occur in many different circumstances. It can happen as a result of an action like a misdiagnosis or an error during surgery or as a result of non-action involving negligence. It is the burden of the victim and their legal team from an esteemed office like The Tinker Law Firm PLLC to prove that negligence has occurred.

Most regular people do not know how to navigate the legal system or what to do to build a solid case. With the help of experienced attorneys working on your behalf, you can start to gather evidence and assess compensation for your case. Let’s take a closer look at a few of the essential elements for proving a malpractice case.

Duty

As a starting point, there needs to be the presence of an owed duty of care. In any relationship between a health care provider and patient, this is assumed to be true. The professional definition of Duty of Care is:

“The responsibility of a person or organization to take all reasonable measures necessary to prevent activities that could result in harm to other individuals and/or their property.”

 

Breach

Secondly, a “breach of the duty” that is owed to the patient is necessary for a medical malpractice case to succeed. The breach may consist of an intentional act or a they fail to act, depending on the circumstances. For example, a doctor that makes a mistake during surgery for a patient has committed an intentional act, as opposed to a failure to act, which includes things like a misdiagnosed tumor that goes untreated.

Failure to Provide Accepted Standard of Care

To prove a malpractice claim, it must be verified the practitioner went against the general standards of care inside their specific profession. For example, an ER doctor will need to provide a specific standard of care that may be different than the standard that binds a dentist or a psychiatrist. A clinician did or did not do something that would have been expected of any other practitioner of the same area of medicine.

Injury

There must be an injury as a result of the breach. It doesn’t matter if the injury is physical or emotional psychological trauma; it must have resulted from the breach of duty that led to it occurring. There must be sufficient evidence to support your claim of injury. For example, you will need to include your medical records and reports from your psychological professionals to back your claims.

Damages

Lastly, damages must be proven in a malpractice lawsuit. A negligence claim cannot be made without emotional or financial damages to the plaintiff. Some economic damages can be incurred, including lost wages, medical bills, and a loss of job opportunities. Factors like physical pain and emotional suffering are considered non-economic damages.

  

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