Proving Medical Malpractice

“Medical malpractice,” sometimes called “med mal” for short, occurs when a medical professional has been negligent in treatment or care. The concept of negligence is of the utmost importance in medical malpractice claims, as without the elements of negligence, there is no case. Those factors are as follows:

  • Duty: The medical professional must owe a duty to the plaintiff.
  • Breach of duty: He must have breached that duty in some way.
  • Harm/damage: The plaintiff must have suffered some harm or damage.
  • Proximate cause: The breach must have been the proximate cause of that harm or damage.

A duty is the easiest factor to show as a doctor always owes a duty of professional care to her patient; sometimes there are disagreements over whether someone is a “patient” of a doctor, though, and that may be something that comes up early on in a case. State law differs a bit on this point, so it is essential that you speak to a medical malpractice lawyer in your state regarding your specific circumstances.

Proximate cause is often the determining factor in medical malpractice claims, and many courts apply a “but for” analysis; i.e., negligence exists where but for the act or omission of the defendant, the plaintiff would not have suffered harm or damage.

Standard in Medical Malpractice Claims

The standard applied to determining whether a medical professional has acted negligently is whether the conduct could be considered that of a “reasonably prudent” medical professional in those circumstances. Accordingly, a medical professional is held to current and prevailing standards that her peers also abide by.

Can Only Doctors Be Sued for Medical Malpractice?

It is important to note that in many states, not only medical doctors or physicians are subject to medical malpractice claims; nurses, therapists, psychologists, and chiropractors are among the other medical professionals that may be sued in some jurisdictions.