Medical Battery

Medical Malpractice vs Medical Battery

Medical malpractice covers a wide range of cases in which a healthcare professional or facility may be deemed negligent, resulting in harm to a patient or even death. This could include instances of:

• Misdiagnosis
• Delayed diagnosis
• Failure to treat
• Surgical error
• Drug error
• Birth injury
• Improper aftercare
• and more

Medical battery is something different. You may be familiar with the term “assault and battery,” pertaining to criminal acts by one party that may inflict physical harm on another person (assault) or do inflict physical harm on another person (battery). Essentially, assault is attempted battery.

Medical battery is similar to battery, but the harm occurs in a medical setting and includes harmful or offensive touching of a patient by a medical professional. When such instances occur, you’ll need an experienced legal team on your side, like the seasoned professionals at The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq., to ensure that you receive fair compensation for your trauma.

Why Patient Rights and Informed Consent Matters

Informed consent is a patient’s right, to know and agree to what’s being done to them. This is what distinguishes medical battery from malpractice. A healthcare provider must get explicit consent from the patient before doing any procedure and failure to do so can lead to medical battery claims. Conditional consent where patients agree to procedures only under certain conditions must also be respected.

Understanding How Medical Battery Differs From Malpractice

While medical malpractice is a pretty large umbrella that covers all kinds of negligence, the medical battery is more specific. There are three main types of cases that fall under the heading of medical battery, including:

• Performing a medical procedure different than the one the patient consented to
• Ignoring conditional consent, in which a patient consents to a procedure only if specific conditions exist, but medical providers proceed without specified conditions being met.
• Performing a medical procedure without patient consent (excluding emergency procedures to prevent harm or save a patient’s life)

One example of medical battery could be a doctor removing the wrong organ during a surgical procedure. Or, perhaps a patient consents to have an organ removed if it is damaged, but upon finding no damage, the doctor proceeds to remove the organ anyway. The least likely is that a doctor performs a medical procedure with no patient consent when no medical emergency exists, but it does happen.

Proving Medical Battery

What separates medical battery from medical malpractice is that negligence often occurs with no intent to do harm. Malpractice could be as simple as writing the wrong prescription or as significant as misdiagnosing a serious condition and failing to treat a patient properly. Still, it is characterized by acts of negligence or omission.

Medical battery cases, on the other hand, hang largely on proving intent, insomuch as the healthcare professional knew what they did was wrong, but they went ahead and did it anyway. In addition, you’ll have to prove:

• Actual cause
• Proximate (legal) cause
• Physical contact/touching
• Harm or offense to the patient, caused by a medical professional

It’s important to understand that actual harm is not necessary to pursue a medical battery case. For example, it may be that a patient enjoys better health following, say, an organ removal that wasn’t consented to. However, if the patient did not consent, conditional consent was not met, and/or no emergency prompted the procedure, the medical battery still occurred.

The Role of Expert Witnesses in Medical Battery

Expert witnesses are key in medical battery cases by testifying on the standard of care and the intent of the medical provider. They help establish whether the actions were not only harmful but done with the knowledge of their wrongfulness. Expert testimony can be the key to proving the healthcare provider acted with intent to harm or went beyond what was consented to.

Differences in Compensation for Malpractice vs. Battery

Medical battery compensation can be different from medical malpractice. Medical battery cases often involve damages for the trauma and violation of personal rights while medical malpractice compensation can include a broader range of damages, including prolonged suffering and lost quality of life. Knowing the differences can help victims get the right kind of compensation for their situation.

Statute of Limitations

The statute of limitations for filing a medical battery claim varies by state but is usually 1-3 years from the date of the incident. Act fast and consult with a lawyer to make sure your case is filed within the applicable time frame.

Contact a Medical Battery Lawyer Today!

Like medical malpractice, medical battery isn’t always easy to prove. However, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t pursue compensation when such instances occur.

The expert attorneys at The Trial Law Offices of Bradley I. Kramer, M.D., Esq. have the knowledge and experience to help you secure maximum compensation when medical battery occurs. Contact us now at 310-289-2600 or online to schedule your free initial consultation.