As a patient, you expect your doctor to provide you with a certain level of care. You certainly expect that he or she will watch out for your best interests and not do anything that would harm you or cause further medical problems. However, sometimes, a doctor makes an error that results in harm rather than healing.
When medical malpractice occurs, it is a serious issue. Many times, though, people think that they have a medical malpractice case when they really do not. The law is fairly strict about what constitutes malpractice. Your situation must meet certain criteria
Damage
Medical News Today explains that the most important factor in proving medical malpractice is that the physician’s actions led to some type of injury. You experienced something negative as a result of the error, and this damage must be significant. Being unhappy or inconvenienced does not constitute malpractice. You need a serious injury as a result of the actions. This means that something that causes long-lasting or devastating problems that you will deal with for the long term, possibly for the rest of your life.
Negligence
You also must show that there were negligent actions on the health care provider’s part. This means that the doctor did not do something or did something incorrectly that another doctor would not have done in the same situation.
Standard of care
The medical field has a standard of care that every doctor must follow. If a physician ignores the standard of care and it causes an injury, then it is a problem.
Duty of care
The final element is the easiest to prove. You just have to show that your health care provider had a professional duty to provide care to you. If you are a patient, then you can show this without issue.
Proving medical malpractice means meeting stringent standards. This is a serious charge, so the court wants to be sure it is a valid claim.