Not all medical malpractice claims are successful. What’s more, not every negative medical result is actually malpractice. Sometimes, things happen that simply cannot be anticipated or controlled.
Medical malpractice claims can only succeed when a claimant can convince the court that four specific things were true in their case. Let’s see what they are.
1. A duty of care
You will need to prove that the defendant had a duty of care toward you. This may instantly rule out some of the people or institutions that you might think of holding responsible. For instance, if you had a heart attack in public and a doctor witnessed it but did not assist you, that might be reprehensible — but the doctor’s presence in your vicinity doesn’t impose a duty of care on them since you were not their patient.
2. A breach of that duty
Once you have established that someone had a duty of care toward you, you will need to show how they breached it. This can be tricky because you are probably not a medical expert yourself, so you may not understand every medical decision they made. In addition, the acceptable standard of care will vary from one situation to the next. A general practitioner in a rural area, for example, likely wouldn’t be held to the same standard of care expected from a world-renowned cardiac specialist in a well-appointed hospital.
3. You suffered harm
You will need to show a significant level of injury to bring a claim. Sometimes a doctor makes a massive error, but the patient escapes any real damage. In that case, there is unlikely to be a reason to claim under malpractice laws.
4. That harm is due to the breach of duty
You need to show that the breach of duty caused your injury. Sometimes two things occur around the same time, and it seems as if one is the result of the other, but that is not always the case. Sometimes the timing is just coincidental, and when that is true, the claim is unlikely to succeed.
As you can see, medical malpractice claims are far from straightforward. Consulting with someone with the necessary legal experience and knowledge can help you determine whether you have a chance to bring a successful claim.