What Is Medical Malpractice?

by | May 26, 2016 | General

Top Stories

Categories

Archives

Medical malpractice is something that happens when a health care professional; doctor, nurse, therapist, etc. through negligence or omission causes injury to a patient in their care. Negligence could be the result of an incorrect diagnosis, improper treatment or aftercare. If you are of the opinion that you or a member of your family was treated improperly due to negligence or omission you should consider discussing the situation with medical malpractice lawyer in Houston.

Under the law, it is considered to be medical malpractice if the following occurred:

    *   Standard of care: Both the law and the medical profession acknowledge that there is a recognized standard of care that those in the medical profession must adhere to when they treat a patient. Patients have the right to expect that they their treatment will be delivered with the care that is consistent with these acknowledged standards, if it is not then there may be a basis to sue for medical malpractice.

    *   Negligence: A medical malpractice claim will only stand up if it can be proven that the injury was the direct result of negligence on the part of a medical professional. If the medical malpractice lawyer in Houston can show that the injury would not have happened had there been no negligence then medical malpractice has occurred. The patient and his or her lawyer must prove that the injury was the result of a negligent act, if there is no negligence then there is no case.

    *   Significant damage: For a malpractice suit to prosper in court it must be shown that there were significant damages caused by the negligent act or the standard of care was less than acceptable.

A medical malpractice lawsuit is extremely costly to pursue, if the injury does not meet these very strict rules then it may cost more to pursue damages than what the eventual award will be. A successful claim will be one where it can be proven that the injury lead to disability, a loss of income, unnecessary pain and suffering as well as large past and future medical expenses.

If you believe that you suffered significant injury as result of negligence on the part of a doctor, nurse or anyone charged with your medical care then you may wish to contact a medical malpractice lawyer in Houston. You are invited to discuss your situation with the Kassab Law Firm. Follow us on twitter.