When seeking out medical care, you expect it to make you feel better, not worse. Unfortunately, in many instances, treatment from a healthcare professional leaves you with new injuries, overwhelming emotions, unanswered questions, and a sense that providers acted with negligence. You may find yourself wondering whether what happened was a complication that couldn’t have been prevented or crossed the line into malpractice. This article aims to shed light on what is considered medical malpractice, offer real-world examples of situations that can qualify as a case, and help you understand your rights in case you’re a victim.
Understanding what qualifies as medical malpractice
Medical malpractice isn’t about a procedure that didn’t work. Instead, it happens when your doctor fails to provide adequate treatment and care, which results in harm. The failure can take different forms, such as the healthcare provider acting negligently or not acting when needed medically. Not all medical errors qualify as malpractice: some treatments are naturally risky, and it’s a case if the failure leaves the patient with significant losses, like added medical bills, injury, or lost income, and it can be proven that the failure caused direct harm.
It’s important to note that medical malpractice isn’t the same as medical negligence, although the two terms are often used interchangeably. While they share similarities, they are different in terms of legal implications and the particular contexts in the healthcare industry. Negligence is a much broader concept and includes any deviation from the standard of care that is desired from a healthcare professional, while medical malpractice is a subset of negligence related to omissions from this standard of care that caused harm.
The presence of intent is another key difference between the two types of actions. Any medical malpractice requires the intent element, with the victim needing to prove that their healthcare provider knew (or should have understood) that their action would cause harm, whereas for negligence cases, the victim must prove only that the doctor committed an omission or unintended act that caused harm. However, it’s worth noting that the difference between medical negligence and medical malpractice doesn’t apply to all jurisdictions. For example, in Ireland, only medical negligence has legal meaning, focusing on whether a doctor failed to meet accepted standards of care, such as in the case of neurology negligence claims.
Medical malpractice examples
Let’s look at some common examples of medical malpractice to give you a better understanding of them:
- Delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis, which can lead to unnecessary treatments or a patient not receiving the treatment they needed promptly. This can happen when a doctor fails to recognize symptoms, refer the patient to a specialist, or order medical testing. Other errors that can delay the identification of an illness include lost test results, mislabeled labs, or errors when conducting a test.
- Failure to treat, such as not providing instructions for follow-up care, releasing a patient too early from the hospital, not ordering adequate medical tests, and not considering the medical history of a patient when prescribing them treatment or medicine.
- Prescription drug errors, which can include prescribing the wrong medication for a diagnosed condition, not recognizing the dangerous interactions between drugs or potential allergic reactions, or prescribing an inadequate dosage, whether too little or too much. These errors can even lead to the loss of life in worst-case scenarios.
- Surgical or procedural errors, whether an elective or emergency surgery, which can include performing surgery on the wrong patient, performing on the wrong body part, reactions or problems to anesthesia, leaving medical devices inside the patient, or not following accepted medical practices before the surgery or during and after it.
- Childbirth injuries, which can be caused by inadequate use of forceps or excessive force when taking the baby out of the birth canal, failure to recognize fetal distress, shaking, dropping, or mishandling a baby during birth and after it, failure to perform a C-section when needed. These injuries can have catastrophic results.
On the other hand, poor outcomes without negligence, known risks that happen despite adequate care, side effects that are disclosed during informed consent, and differences in medical judgment don’t meet the legal definition of malpractice. If you are unsure about your specific situation, it’s always helpful to reach out to a legal professional.
What to do in case of medical malpractice
If you suspect you’ve been a medical malpractice victim, you need to act systematically to protect your legal rights, as well as your health. First and foremost, it’s crucial to get a second opinion, which can help confirm errors in care and understand what providers should have done differently. Plus, getting medical attention will allow you to avoid further complications from delayed treatment and prevent more serious complications. You also want to write down what happened, and hold onto all your medical records, bills, prescriptions, and so on, which will help track the care you received and expose errors.
Because medical malpractice cases can be very complex, if you decide to pursue a lawsuit to receive compensation for treatment or damages, it’s best to have a lawyer with experience in this type of case by your side, because they will investigate the circumstances of your specific case, identify liable parties, and support you in recovering damages for emotional and physical injuries. If a fair settlement cannot be reached, the case will go to trial, and in court, the legal professional will work hard to present evidence, call expert witnesses, and argue before a jury and judge to demonstrate medical malpractice and secure justice for you. When looking for a medical malpractice lawyer, be sure to check their qualifications and credentials, so you can find someone who specializes in medical malpractice instead of a general practitioner. It can be helpful to also check reviews and testimonials, as they will offer a preview of what you will experience with a lawyer.
The bottom line
If you suffered harm due to substandard medical care, you deserve to understand your rights and get compensation for your losses, but the legal process can be complex to navigate alone, so we recommend having a lawyer by your side. This will give you peace of mind and allow you to focus on your physical and emotional recovery rather than worrying about the outcome of your case.