Every day, millions of Americans depend on medical providers to take care of their medical needs and ensure they are provided with appropriate treatment. This care may involve prescribing medications, performing surgical procedures, formulating a medical assessment, or ordering medical tests to make a formal diagnosis.
While medical professionals undergo extensive schooling and training, they do sometimes make poor decisions for their patients’ care, and in some circumstances, a patient may suffer severe, life-threatening injuries as a result of that care.
If this has been the case, you – as a victim – may be able to pursue a medical malpractice case against the doctor or other medical providers responsible for the injuries you have suffered.
If your claim succeeds, you can recover financial compensation for your damages, including compensation for pain and suffering, lost wages, mental anguish, and medical expenses that you have incurred.
Medical malpractice claims are very complex, and you will need to prove four things for your claim against the medical provider to be successful:
Duty: That The Doctor or Health Care Provider had a Duty to You by Virtue of a Doctor-Patient (or similar) Relationship
You must first establish evidence of a relationship between your doctor or health care provider and yourself. This is most likely the easiest thing to prove during a medical malpractice claim. You simply must show that a medical professional agreed to provide your care or diagnose your illness.
Once the relationship between the doctor and patient has been established, the provider has the responsibility or duty to provide a level of care within accepted medical standards insofar as those standards apply to your medical condition.
Breach: Evidence of Substandard Medical Care
Second, you must show that the medical provider failed to provide care that fits within the accepted medical standards for your specific situation. You will need testimony from expert witnesses to verify that the care you received fell outside of the acceptable realm.
Causation: A Causal Link Between the Care Provided and Your Injury
Third, you must show the link between the provider’s negligence and your injury. Besides proving negligence (i.e., that the health care provider fell below the applicable standard of care), you must also prove that the primary cause of your injuries was due to your doctor’s lack of action or inappropriate or improper actions. You must show that injuries were not the result of an underlying medical condition or something outside the conduct of the physician who is being held to blame for the injury sustained.
Damages: Proof of the Damages You Suffered
Lastly, you must show that the medical provider’s actions caused you damages or injuries. You will need to explain these damages in detail, such as medical treatment, pain and suffering, and lost wages you incurred.
Using a preponderance of evidence, all four of these elements must be proven. That means that you must provide documentation and evidence to support your allegations against your medical provider.
Because of the complexity of Los Angeles medical malpractice cases, you should enlist the help of an experienced medical malpractice lawyer. Contact the Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq., where the lawyers are also medical doctors. Get your free initial consultation today.