Medical malpractice is essentially the failure of a medical provider (including physicians, pharmacists, radiologists, lab technicians, and doctors) to use reasonable care in treating a patient. The standard of care prescribed that these medical providers owe their patients varies in different jurisdictions. However, the general rule is that they owe their patients the standard of care generally accepted by the medical profession for the same or similar circumstances.
Medical malpractice may include the failure of a medical provider to perform his/her duties, including the diagnosis of his/her conditions. A misdiagnosis may include failure to perform certain diagnostic tests or failure to diagnose a condition in a timely manner. Such negligence may result in serious injury to you. If you have been injured due to a misdiagnosis, you may have a claim against the health care providers who treated you.
The statute of limitations eliminates claims after a certain amount of time has passed since the negligent act occurred. These laws vary from state to state. For more information on misdiagnosis, consult a qualified attorney.
Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is defined as an action derived from an erroneous action, of a medical or hospital nature, on a patient, caused by an action of a medical professional or a hospital and which results in physical and/or psychological damage.
The lack of diligence in medicine
Medical negligence, in many cases is due to a lack of diligence in the doctor, for medical error, misdiagnosis, malpractice in medical protocols, and not only in the doctor, but can also occur by the medical team itself or in the hospital environment (infections, lack of care, etc.).
The obligation to use appropriate techniques and protocols
In general, the doctor’s obligation is limited to the use of appropriate techniques for the cure of the patient and to act diligently and in accordance with the lex artis, in certain areas of modern medicine the doctor is also obliged to obtain a result.
What should you do if you think you have been subjected to medical negligence?
If you think you have been the victim of medical malpractice due to medical error, you should go to our lawyers who specialize in medical and hospital malpractice, negligence in cosmetic surgery, diagnostic errors or general medical malpractice. To do this, you should gather all the medical reports you have available, request the medical records from the hospital where you were treated and go to our Law Firm, where you will be treated by an attorney who specializes in medical malpractice, the medical malpractice treated by our lawyers will give you the result that the client expects.
Medical malpractice in cosmetic surgery
Medical negligence can occur in the field of cosmetic surgery, with negligence in cosmetic surgery, dentistry and interventions for the sterilization of the patient, all paradigmatic assumptions in which the obligation assumed by the physician is qualified as an obligation of result, which causes that the full and satisfactory performance of the benefit assumed by the latter is made dependent on the realization of the latter.
In this respect, our jurisprudence has repeatedly affirmed that in the field of so-called “voluntary medicine” (aimed at improving some physical or biological aspect of the patient and not at eliminating a pathological illness) the obligation of the health professional “is already notoriously close to the (contract) for leasing work, which favors the requirement for greater assurance in obtaining the desired result, since, if this were not the case, it is obvious that the person concerned would not go to the doctor to obtain the desired result”.
Liability for surgery
The medical responsibility, in order not to incur in medical negligence, either of the doctor who has intervened in the operation or even in the diagnosis, of the medical team or of the hospital itself, can be of several types
Criminal, civil or in your case administrative
It may be the case that the doctor, of an erroneous diagnosis, either by omission, or by action, for example, it has been the case that in a routine test, after the corresponding biopsy, the doctor does not open the envelope and assumes that the biopsy is benign, when later the patient suffers the extension of the tumor, and checks that the envelope closed and not opened by trust with his doctor or family specialists, there was a malignant diagnosis.
In other cases, the errors are caused by defective surgical interventions or by forgetting the medical team, or by supplying the product or medication, coagulants, or inadequate instruments.
The causal link of the result
In the consequences derived from a medical negligence, the CAUSAL NEXUS must always be proven, between the intervention, diagnosis, etc., and the damage suffered by the patient.
The obligation of the doctor of means
The doctor’s obligation is one of means and not of results, and these means that must be made available to the patient must be evaluated not only in terms of the economy of the contract for the provision of medical-sanitary services but also in terms of those that derive from this relationship and are known to the patient, without it being possible to question the medical-sanitary action on the basis of its subsequent evolution, in order to make the doctor responsible for the materialization of an exceptional risk of which the patient had been previously informed.
The patient was given personalized information about the surgical intervention to be performed, including the most relevant risks.
The obligation to inform the patient
The doctor must also inform the patient of all those circumstances that may affect the decision he or she may make, including those of the health center where the intervention is to be performed.
The patient’s actions in the event of medical negligence
The patient or their relatives may feel that they have been victims or may have been victims of the lack of professionalism of the health personnel or the corresponding medical professional, (Medical negligence) either because of an unpredictable result or an unwanted result, or because of medical malpractice, misdiagnosis, deficient protocol, negligence in cosmetic surgery that may be difficult to explain by the health personnel themselves. For this reason, before filing a lawsuit, it is advisable to collect all the information that proves that medical negligence has indeed existed.
Legal advice in the event of medical malpractice
The best way for an individual to handle these medical malpractice cases is to get advice from a medical malpractice attorney.
The medical malpractice attorney, in collaboration with a medical specialist, will be able to confirm that the patient has indeed been the victim of medical malpractice.
The medical malpractice attorney will be able to provide you with an indicative assessment of the compensation that could be awarded, which can be financially assessed depending on the harmful outcome, in order to know what the financial interest is and thus verify whether it is worthwhile to initiate the procedures that will make the claim effective.
Procedures for medical malpractice claims
Once these first steps have been taken, we can claim liability for the damages produced as a consequence of medical negligence, through three different ways that can be independent of each other:
- Civil: Civil proceedings for medical liability
- Criminal: Criminal proceedings for medical liability, negligence, willful misconduct
- Administrative: Medical liability proceedings
The first two formulas are the most used (civil and criminal), although the Law of Administrative Litigation requires people who have suffered medical malpractice in a public hospital to go either to the criminal or contentious-administrative.
Patrimonial responsibility of the Administration
This way – contentious-administrative, which is limited to the patrimonial responsibility of the Administration and never of the doctor or sanitary personnel, is usually slow and even now it is more expensive because of the obligation of the use of an Attorney of the Courts.
The criminal route
In general, it is advisable to resort to the criminal route in cases of death or serious injuries when there is intention or malice to cause damage or by a manifest lack of skill because it is faster, cheaper and because you can achieve what you want.
The civil route
In this case, if the lawsuit is won, the patient will only receive financial compensation, although if it is finally proven that there was no medical malpractice, the plaintiff will pay the expenses generated by the process (costs).
Medical professional liability.
When the MEDICAL professional, Health Technical Assistant, or corresponding specialist in medicine, due to malice, recklessness, negligence, etc. causes a damage to the person who has required their services.