What Is A Medical Malpractice Claim?
A medical malpractice claim is a claim when anyone who is in the medical field and one who fails to perform his or her competent medical duties on a patient.
What Are The Common Causes Of Medical Malpractice Claims?
There are a few basic requirements for a medical malpractice claim. First, there must be a doctor-patient relationship. In other words, if you were to overhear a doctor talking outside of his practice there would be no claim against him if he were to offer advice to a random person. You have to prove the doctor was negligent, and their negligence caused an injury. In legal terms, a doctor is negligent when they breach a standard of care. The standard of care is a subjective term, but you are asking whether the doctor gave you, as the patient, care that caused you harm relative to the standards within your community. For example, the standard of care in a small rural community may be different from the standard of care in downtown Chicago.
The most common ways in which medical providers breach the standard of care is through a failure to diagnose, a failure to treat, or properly treat, and a failure to warn a patient of known risks. Just to go through those quickly, under a failure to diagnose claim, we, as the attorneys are looking to see if the outcome of the patient could have been different, had a competent doctor discovered the patient’s illness, or made a proper diagnosis. Under a failure to treat, or properly treat claim, we are looking to see if the medical provider recommends appropriate treatment, and if the treatment they recommended as appropriate was actually administered competently. Finally, under a failure to warn claim, we are looking to see if doctors advise patients of their known risks of a procedure or treatment.
This is known as the duty of an informed consent. If a patient was not properly informed of possible risks, and would not have elected to go through with the procedure knowing the risks, then the doctor may be liable for medical malpractice if the patient is injured by that procedure.
What Are The Top Misconceptions That People Have About Medical Malpractice Claims?
One of the most common misconceptions we see is that clients call in with all sorts of claims that they think are viable. I think it is important for potential clients to understand that the medical community is very protected when it comes to what causes of action constitute a breach of the standard of care. Because of that, it is important to have an experienced attorney review the case to see if the claim is viable. We always offer a free review of any potential medical malpractice case.
Are Medical Malpractice Claims Typically Against Doctors Only Or Could They Be Against Any Healthcare Professional?
Medical claims can be brought against any medical professional, but most commonly, they are against medical doctors. A good barometer is if an individual is licensed in any medical field, chances are, a claim can be brought against them.
Are People Generally Hesitant To Bring Forward Medical Malpractice Claims?
There are certainly people who are hesitant to bring these claims to fruition because of tort reform. The insurance companies and their allies have convinced some people that if they bring a claim against their doctor, that the cost of healthcare will go up for everybody, or doctors will leave their state. These statements are false. Certainly, studies have shown that there is no correlation between medical malpractice suits, or the number of medical malpractice suits, and the cost of rising healthcare. Additionally, if a bad doctor leaves my community or stops practicing because of a medical malpractice suit then I see that as a positive rather than a negative.
I want doctors in my community who do not cut corners and follow the Hippocratic Oath. Ultimately, medical malpractice suits are designed to hold doctors accountable and make our community a safer place.
For more information on Medical Malpractice Claims In Utah, a free initial consultation is your next best step. Get the information and legal answers you are seeking by calling (801) 499-5060 today.
