Doctors make mistakes in both diagnosis and treatment and when they do the first concern is for the health and well-being of the patient, has the error impacted the patient’s condition? Doctors are only human, they periodically do make mistakes. A mistake is understandable, medical malpractice is not. When the situation raises a red-flag, it is always best to call upon a Chicago medical malpractice lawyer; he or she is best suited to determine whether there is a case.
What is medical malpractice?
There is a great deal more to a case of medical malpractice than simply a mistake on the part of the medical practitioner or medical facility. For a case to be viable there must be four elements:
* There was an established relationship between the patient and the doctor
* The care that was given fell below what is the accepted standard
* There must be a connection between the negligent act and the harm to the patient, and
* There must be quantifiable harm as a result
The standard of care:
In most cases the most contentious issue is the standard of care, proving what it is and isn’t requires the following:
* Establishing the appropriate standard that should apply, and
* Detailing how the defendant fell short of meeting the standard
Basically, the expected standard of care is that that would be expected from a medical care provider in the same community.
Negligence:
Once the Chicago medical malpractice lawyer has to establish how the standard of care was breached; how did the practitioner actually fall short of meeting the standard? It is not enough that a mistake was made, it must be established that the mistake caused measurable harm to the patient.
As you can see, proving medical malpractice is phenomenally complex, if you feel that you have a case you will want to ensure that the lawyer that you choose to represent you in court has a great deal of experience and knowledge.
If you believe you medical condition was misdiagnosed or the care you received was sub-standard, you may have a medical malpractice case. If this is the case you will want to hire a seasoned Chicago medical malpractice lawyer. You are invited to contact the Shea Law Group and request a free initial consultation. Like us on our facebook page.
