Medical malpractice lawsuits can be tricky to pursue, especially since one case will often look quite different from the next. Medical malpractice– or the occurrence of a doctor’s negligent behavior causing a patient to get injured– can occur in many forms, such as:
- Misdiagnosis
- Delayed diagnosis
- Failure to diagnose
- Failure to treat in a timely manner
- A surgical error
- Anesthesia overdose
- Error prescribing medication
- Reckless childbirth care
- Untreated fetal distress
- Inadequate prenatal care
It’s difficult to pin down the best way to win a medical malpractice lawsuit, especially since each case has its own set of unique circumstances. But, in recent decades, forensic psychiatry experts have found that winning medical malpractice cases share four legal elements in common:
- The doctor owed the patient a “Duty of Care.”
- The doctor violated that Duty of Care.
- The patient was injured because of that violation.
- The injury resulted in monetary, medical, or emotional damages.
To have the strongest odds of winning a medical malpractice lawsuit, you must be able to prove that each of these four elements apply to your case.
1. A duty of reasonable care
Professionals owe their customers a duty to provide reasonable care for any services they may offer. In medical malpractice law, physicians owe a client this duty of care once they form a doctor-patient relationship. This element is the easiest to prove, since it only requires that the patient have an existing relationship with their doctor.
Generally, a doctor-patient relationship begins when a medical professional provides some kind of service for the patient, like an examination or consultation. However, this relationship can also be formed in more unusual circumstances, such as when a medical professional provides roadside emergency aid or when a doctor covers for another physician’s appointments.
2. Violation of the duty of care
To determine whether a medical professional failed to uphold their duty of providing reasonable care, the legal industry refers to what is called a “standard of care.” The standard of care that applies for each malpractice case is based on what a “reasonable” medical professional with a similar level of knowledge and experience would do in the same situation.
Any medical professional who fails to meet the standard of care determined by what a “reasonable” physician would do in the same scenario would be found negligent by the court.
3. Injury occurrence
The patient must have been injured as a direct result of their physician’s failure to meet the standard of care expected from a reasonable medical professional. A doctor might try to claim that a patient’s injury was caused by a pre-existing medical condition instead of their own negligence, but many courts have rules that prevent physicians from using that tactic to escape liability.
4. Resulting damages
Finally, the injury must have resulted in medical, monetary, or emotional damages in order for the patient to receive a payout. These damages can take many forms, such as:
Economic damages:
Non-economic damages:
- Current & future medical bills
- Current & future lost wages
- Loss of earning capacity
- Cost of physical therapy
- Cost of disability accommodations
- Pain and suffering
- Loss of enjoyment
- Bodily disfigurement
- Loss of consortium
- Mental anguish
For cases in which a medical professional acted with willful or gross negligence, an injured patient may be able to earn additional damages. Punitive damages are designed to punish a defendant whose actions are particularly reckless or intentionally malicious.
File a medical malpractice lawsuit
If you or an immediate family member was a victim of medical malpractice, an attorney can help you collect the evidence you need to prove the four elements of a winning medical malpractice case. Ready to file a claim? Request a free case review today.
