A medical malpractice is not just about committing a mistake. The presence of a mistake by a medical professional is one of the elements that must be present in a medical malpractice case. Just because a doctor committed an error, it does not mean that the patient will be able to recover and win the lawsuit. There are many characteristics involved with a medical malpractice case. The following all the features of establishing and proving a medical malpractice case:
- The standard of care must have been breached
- The breached of the required care caused the injury
- The injury sustained by the patient was the direct cause of that violation, and
- The injury led to damages like medical fees
Unlike your average citizen that relies on ordinary prudence, a doctor has a higher standard of care that is demanded of them. If they fail to act carefully and with the utmost care as any other reasonable medical professional would have under the same circumstance, the medical professional can be legally responsible for their actions if the patient was injured. While negligence and an injury are required in a case, damages must have taken place.
What are damages?
Damages are harms that the patient suffered because of the injury that the doctor caused. Damages will typically be what the victim recovers once they have won their lawsuit. The most common type of damages that are awarded or the calculable and non-calculable damages. Those include medical fees, future medical costs, physical therapy, loss of earnings (past and future), funeral costs, burial costs, loss of consortium, pain and suffering, just to name a few.
After all of the above has been concluded, the final step is to file a complaint. The filing of a claim can be done with the best medical malpractice attorneys. The most efficient way to file a claim is with the help of a personal injury lawyer, although many choose to file alone.
Cases Hardly Make it to Trial
For those who do not like the idea of waiting years to go to trial, there is always the option of taking a settlement. Most likely, the defendant’s insurance company will offer the plaintiff a certain amount to prevent them from ever filing the same lawsuit in the future. The amount insurance companies will give the plaintiff, is probably not even one-third of what the case is worth. With a medical malpractice attorney, they guarantee their clients more money because they understand how to manipulate insurance companies and deal with their tactics.
A Miami Malpractice Lawyer can Help
The laws of medical malpractice cases are complex to comprehend; even legal professionals are always learning something new every day. The firm of personal injury lawyers can help bring on a medical malpractice claim and persist with winning.