When you check into a hospital for treatment, you trust that the facility, doctors and other health care providers on duty will provide the care you need to get better. The last thing you expect is for the facility or professionals therein to act negligently or commit wrongdoing that can lead to an injury or even death.
Unfortunately, medical malpractices happen from time to time resulting in traumatic injuries and deaths. If you believe the physician or medical facility has acted in a negligent manner while attending to you, resulting in injuries, you may consider filing a personal injury claim against the offending party. However, medical malpractice can be a daunting task.
Here are four basic legal elements that you must prove in order to win a medical malpractice lawsuit.
A doctor-patient relationship
There has to be a doctor-patient relationship for the physician to owe you a duty of care. To establish this, you must provide evidence of the consent of treatment or any documentation you signed prior to the treatment.
Violation of the set standard of care
Next, you have to prove that the physician violated a medical standard of care. This standard may differ depending on the circumstances of your case. As such, you need to engage a medical expert to review your treatment records in order to determine how the defendant deviated from the expected standard of care.
Injury as a result of a breach of care
There has to be an injury, or death, for negligence to rise to the level of malpractice. Thus, you must prove that the physician’s negligence resulted in an injury that you would otherwise not have sustained if they had not breached their duty of care.
Damages due to injury
Besides physical injury, a medical malpractice victim may also incur other damages. These can be in the form of lost income, physical pain and emotional distress. It is important that you cite any damages you have incurred while filing your medical malpractice claim.
If you have sustained an injury at the hands of a health care provider, you may want to know what it takes to prove your claim in court. And like all personal injury cases, you need facts to prove a medical malpractice claim and get the compensation you deserve for your injury.
