A Comprehensive Guide to Understanding Surgical Malpractice Claims

Understanding the complexities of surgical malpractice claims can be difficult. However, it is critical to safeguard your rights and obtain appropriate compensation for any injuries you have sustained. 

To ensure justice is served, one needs to familiarize themselves with these types of cases and become aware of their legal options in order to prevent a potentially unfavorable outcome.

This thorough guide to surgical malpractice claims is an absolute must-have. By comprehending the fundamentals of these claims, you can be certain that your rights are safeguarded so that you may get the remuneration due to you. With this knowledge in hand, you can feel confident knowing that all possible steps have been taken for a successful outcome.

This comprehensive guide will help you comprehend the fundamental elements of surgical malpractice claims, such as what comprises medical malpractice and how to recognize if your circumstances enable a legitimate claim. 

What Is Surgical Malpractice?

No matter the type of surgery, healthcare professionals are expected to take all necessary steps and precautionary measures to ensure patient safety. Unfortunately, when they fail in this responsibility, surgical malpractice can occur, resulting in significant physical harm or even death. It’s imperative that we recognize this danger and hold medical professionals accountable for their actions if such an incident does arise.

Mistakes may be made in the pre-operative phase, post-operative recovery period, or even in misdiagnosing a patient. Surgical malpractice can arise from an assortment of causes, such as a lack of proper education, experience, and expertise.

At times, surgical malpractice transpires due to negligent behavior or inattention. On the other hand, sometimes a doctor fails to make an accurate diagnosis which leads them astray while making medical decisions that are misguided. 

Irrespective of how it happens, surgical malpractice can cause intense suffering and harm for patients who experience its lasting effects—ranging from chronic pain to life-threatening infections or death.

Identifying a Valid Surgical Malpractice Claim

Making a valid claim for medical negligence arising from surgery requires evidence of what went wrong during the procedure and that without this error, your injuries would not have occurred. Three factors must be established to determine if you possess a legal case for surgical malpractice.

1. You must be able to identify the negligent act that caused your injuries. 

2. You must be able to prove that the negligent act was the proximate cause of your injury. 

3. You must be able to show that the surgical error caused you significant harm.

Negligence during surgery can take many forms, such as leaving debris or surgical sponges inside of the patient. These careless actions may cause immense harm to those undergoing the procedure and are considered negligent acts in legal terms. 

To be able to make a valid claim, you must prove that this negligence was indeed the proximate cause of your injury—meaning it is what directly caused your damages rather than any external events or circumstances.

If a surgeon incorrectly diagnoses a condition and performs surgery that is unnecessary, the surgical error may have resulted in harm to you, but the surgeon’s mistake was not the proximate cause of the harm. 

The surgical error must have caused you significant harm. This harm may include physical pain, mental anguish, disability, or disfigurement.

The Litigation Process for Surgical Malpractice Claims

If you’ve determined that medical malpractice has been inflicted upon you and have employed an attorney to serve as your advocate, be prepared for a lengthy legal process. 

This could take anywhere from one to three years, depending on the severity of the claim, case intricacy, and amount of evidence (which will be discussed in detail later). The duration might appear daunting at first, but knowledge about what lies ahead in this arduous path can help ease some anxiety during this precarious period.

1. Initial Medical Investigation: This initial investigation can take place over the course of weeks or even months, depending on the severity of your injuries and the factors that contribute to your treatment. 

2. Discovery Period: Discovery is the period of time during which the two sides exchange information and documents related to the case. During this stage, the opposing side serves a request for discovery, and you have a certain amount of time to respond to the request and provide your attorney with any information relevant to the case. 

You may find that you’re required to submit a lot of documentation, including medical records, bills, and other information that can be difficult to track down. 

3. Mediation: If a settlement can’t be reached during the discovery period, you may be required to attend an arbitration or mediation session. 

During a mediation session, attorneys for both parties and the neutral party (i.e., judge or mediator) come together to discuss each side’s argument with the aim of finding an equitable agreement that all sides can accept. If no such accord is reached, then unfortunately it must go before court proceedings commence.

Proving Negligence in a Surgical Malpractice Case

Depending on the circumstances of your case, your attorney may decide to pursue a standard negligence claim or a superseding negligence claim.

A standard negligence claim is appropriate when the surgeon deviated from accepted medical practice but did not breach any standard of care. 

A superseding negligence claim is appropriate when the surgeon breached the standard of care by misdiagnosing a condition or performing the wrong surgery. The standard of care is the level of care that doctors are expected to provide to their patients. 

In order to prove negligence in your case, you must show that the surgeon deviated from the standard of care. If you can prove this deviation, your attorney can then argue that the surgeon’s deviation caused your injuries.

Call The Doctor Lawyer Firm if You Believe You Have a Surgical Malpractice Case

If you or someone you care about has been injured due to a surgeon’s negligence, it is important that you contact The Doctor Lawyer Firm for assistance. At The Doctor Lawyer Firm, we have an experienced team of attorneys who specialize in handling medical malpractice cases. 

We can help guide you through the legal process and fight to get you the compensation that you deserve. Contact us today at 1-833-MedMals to discuss your case and learn more about what we can do for you.

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not decide whether to contact a lawyer based on the information in this blog post. Moreover, there is no lawyer-client relationship resulting from this blog post, nor should any such relationship be implied. If you need legal counsel, please consult a lawyer licensed to practice in your jurisdiction.