Doctors and medical professionals train for many years before being allowed to practice. Standards in the medical sector are high because it is literally a matter of life and death.
For the most part, medical professionals get it right. They do their best to find treatments that improve the health condition of their patients. However, this isn’t always the case. Doctors are only human and they make mistakes.
When a mistake involves negligence, this could be medical malpractice. When deciding whether or not malpractice occurred, the court will examine the four “Ds” as outlined below.
Duty of care
Doctors owe patients a legal duty of care. This means that they must act within the expected standards of the profession. This duty is owed from the moment a doctor agrees to see a patient in a professional capacity.
Dereliction of duty
For medical malpractice to occur, a doctor must have displayed a dereliction of duty of care. They must not have taken that duty seriously and acted in a way that no other doctor would have reasonably been expected to.
Direct causation
In medical malpractice cases, there must be direct causation. For example, if a doctor was taken off of a patient’s case, and replaced by another doctor, the original doctor would not be directly responsible for injuries that the second doctor caused. If, on the other hand, the first doctor had injured the patient, then the chain of causation stands and malpractice may apply.
Damages
The final D is “damages.” The damages must be quantifiable in some way. For example, the patient may have incurred medical bills due to the negligent actions of a doctor. Or, they may have had to take time off of work due to their injuries. They could claim for lost wages in this instance.
Medical malpractice cases can be complicated. If you have been injured in a medical facility, it’s best to seek legal guidance to assess your options.
