Not all medical procedures come with a 100% guarantee of success. So having a negative outcome does not mean that you are the victim of medical malpractice. It is possible that your doctor provided you with the standard of care and skills required to have a positive outcome and it just didn’t work. However poor care, misdiagnoses, or lack of skill are some of the signs of medical malpractice to look out for and there is criteria which must be met to file a legitimate claim.
Signs of Medical Malpractice
Treatments don’t always work. However, some potential signs are:
● You’re not getting better and your treatment isn’t working
● Your treatment doesn’t align with your diagnosis
● Your doctor didn’t order additional follow-up tests
● A second opinion is different than your original diagnosis
● The hospital seems understaffed
● Surgical errors
● No follow-up appointments with medical providers
If you experienced any of these signs, it can be a good idea to discuss what happened with a medical malpractice attorney.
Criteria: A bad outcome can be a sign of medical malpractice if what happened meets specific criteria, such as:
Established Doctor-Patient Relationship
To be able to file a medical malpractice claim, you must have an established doctor-patient relationship. This isn’t someone you just met and asked for medical advice or if you were harmed taking the advice of a doctor online or from a TV show. The medical provider must have responsibility for your care and agree to treat you. For instance, allowing you to schedule an appointment in their office, accepting payment, and seeing you in the office all help to demonstrate that established doctor-patient relationship. You do not have to be seeing the medical provider for a long period of time to have an established relationship.
You have an established relationship with a pharmacist once you pick up your filled prescription. Any of the care providers that provide services for you in the hospital also have an established relationship with you. If you have any questions about whether you had an established doctor-patient relationship, you should discuss what happened to you with a qualified attorney and get their objective and honest feedback.
Did Not Meet Standard of Care
There is a standard of care that medical providers must meet when treating patients. Not meeting this standard of care is a type of negligence. In legitimate case, it must be shown that the medical provider did not act in a way that any other competent doctor would have in the same situation.
To demonstrate that your medical provider did not meet the standard of care and was negligent, your medical malpractice lawyer will likely rely on other doctors or subject matter experts to give the judge and jury an idea of what care should have been provided. This helps to establish how the medical provider in question was negligent and where their judgment or care faltered.
Quantifiable Harm
Medical malpractice lawsuits require measurable losses. To request compensation in court, the patient must have suffered demonstrated losses or other damages. Some examples of quantifiable harm include:
● Extra medical bills related to the original, unresolved issue
● Medical expenses related to treating conditions caused by negligence
● Loss of earning capability
● Disability
● Pain and suffering
Harm from Failure to Meet Standard of Care
Additionally, your lawyer must be able to prove that the quantifiable harm you face is related to your medical provider’s failure to meet the established standard of care. In some ways, this can be the most difficult aspect of any medical malpractice case. Your lawyer will need to prove that failure caused your bad outcome, and not the health condition which caused you to seek medical care to begin with.
For the best chance of winning a medical malpractice case, it is imperative to build the strongest case possible that demonstrates how exactly the medical provider was negligent. By only working with an experienced medical malpractice lawyer with expertise related to cases like yours, you can give yourself the best chance to win your case and receive compensation. Often lawyers in this area of law have established relationships with reliable experts that can lend their testimony and expertise to support your case.
Contact an Arizona Medical Malpractice Lawyer
You have the right to fair and quality medical treatment free from negligence from a doctor that you can trust. If you or a loved one is the victim of medical malpractice, you could be entitled to compensation. Contact Attorney Mark E. Hall at (480) 495-6963 or fill out the online contact form to schedule a consultation about your potential medical malpractice claim.
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