People trust doctors and rely on them to make proper diagnoses and provide appropriate treatments. However, even the best of them are subject to making errors that may cause harm. When those adverse results occur, the injured victims may be entitled to compensation.
Complications, such as an unforeseen allergic reaction, may not constitute malpractice. This is especially true if the doctor did everything by the book and the reaction could not have been anticipated. “To obtain damages for an act of medical malpractice in Connecticut, one must prove certain elements,” says attorney Russell Berkowitz of Berkowitz Hanna Malpractice & Injury Lawyers. Understanding the legal requirements is essential for any patient who may find themselves in this unfortunate situation.
Understanding Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare practitioner departs from established medical practice and causes injury to a patient. All types of harm resulting from treatments do not constitute malpractice. It depends on whether the health provider’s actions or omissions fall below the acceptable standards of medical practice. For example, when an operating physician leaves an operating tool inside the patient, it would fall under malpractice since it is avoidable and far from standard operating procedure.
Establishing Negligence in Malpractice Lawsuits
Medical malpractice lawsuits are founded on negligence. Thus, to prove your lawsuit, you must establish all the elements of negligence:
1. Duty of Care
All clinical practitioners automatically assume the duty of care once they accept a patient. This duty requires them to treat their patient according to the standards followed in the practice of medicine. For example, when you go to your doctor complaining of a headache, they should properly evaluate your symptoms and guide you according to the current standards of practice.
2. Breach of Duty
A standard is breached when the health professional drops below reasonable standards. Continuing with the example above, when the doctor dismisses these headaches as normal without conducting an adequate examination or considering more serious conditions, like a brain tumor, as possibilities and merely prescribes over-the-counter painkillers, this would be below the standard duty of care.
3. Causation
Causation refers to the link between the negligent act and the resulting injury or damage. In our example, should the dismissal of symptoms lead to a late diagnosis of otherwise curable brain tumors and the disease advancing, that link between the negligent act (breach) and the outcome (disease development) establishes causation.
4. Damage
For a medical malpractice case to be successful, there must be proof that the failure to fulfill a duty caused harm or injury. This may be physical, i.e., illness or poor health; mental, i.e., worry or distress; or monetary, i.e., money and mounting medical costs. If, as a consequence of the late diagnosis of the brain tumor, the patient is subjected to more intensive treatments that would otherwise be preventable, pays high medical bills, and experiences bodily harm and mental anguish, these constitute concrete harm.
Identifying Responsible Parties in Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
More than one party may be responsible for medical malpractice. Besides doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and other medical practitioners directly handling the patient may also be held accountable. Hospitals and clinics themselves may be held partially responsible, especially when their policies are at fault or they fail to provide adequate training.
Sometimes, even the manufacturers of defective equipment utilized during the treatment are responsible. Each party’s percentage of fault depends on their role in causing the injury; as a result, the fault often falls on multiple parties.
Conclusion
Proving medical malpractice requires you to demonstrate the breach of duty, causation, and resulting damages. It is crucial to remember that multiple parties could be held liable in malpractice cases. You must meticulously gather evidence to prove negligence and secure fair compensation. Although the process may be challenging, pursuing a claim can bring accountability to those who failed in their duty to provide adequate care.
