Medical Malpractice: Everything You Need To Know

If you believe you received a healthcare service that was performed improperly, we can only imagine how you’re feeling. 

Physicians and other medical professionals have a great responsibility on their hands and are expected to perform their jobs with utmost care. Sadly, this isn’t the case sometimes, and a careless mistake may lead to years of pain and financial ruin for the afflicted patient. 

Fortunately, according to US law, if you were harmed by a physician, you are legally entitled to bring a medical malpractice claim against them. 

If you’re confused as to what constitutes malpractice, keep reading because in today’s post, we’ll go over the basics and provide you with a short history of medical malpractice in the United States.

What is medical malpractice?

Before explaining the history of medical malpractice in the United States, you first need to know the definition of malpractice.

It’s pretty straightforward:

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional provides their patient with medical care that falls short of established standards. For example, if a physician fails to act in circumstances where a competent professional with similar training and experience would, they can be held accountable. Similarly, if the treatment provided by the physician falls below the standards of care that a similarly trained medical professional would have provided in similar circumstances, it’s also considered malpractice.

Any type of healthcare provider who has a duty of care can commit medical malpractice, including doctors, surgeons, radiologists, nurses, and so on. 

History of medical malpractice in the United States

Despite the fact malpractice seems like an invention of the modern world, it goes as far back as the Code of Hammurabi over thousands of years BCE. This code established the famous “eye for an eye” axiom, which lies at the heart of the modern US Law version of medical malpractice.

When speaking about the history of medical malpractice in the United States, it all started in 1794, with the first US malpractice case. While it did revolve around the breach of contract rather than the doctor’s failure to adhere to the standards of care, it does have pretty much all the makings of malpractice. 

A man whose wife died after surgery sued the doctor because the doctor promised that he would perform the surgery safely. The court found the defendant guilty and awarded the plaintiff 40 pounds. 

In the 1800s, there was an upsurge in malpractice cases because many doctors used amputation instead of fixing limbs. One way to address the problem was starting the American Medical Association that standardized the level of care. 

Because of the development of more sophisticated treatments during the 1960s, the number of malpractice cases continued to rise and so did the amount of damages awarded. As a result, medical professionals lobbied for federal protection and intervention. 

Since there are no federal standards of care, each state has its malpractice statutes that describe what constitutes malpractice, as well as other details such as caps on damages. Due to excessive payouts, many states developed reform acts where they implemented individual damage caps. 

Another major development during the 60s was legislation that established the idea of shared fault, which recognized that the medical professional may not be the only individual at fault in a malpractice case. As such, comparative and contributive fault was introduced that required a jury to assign the amount of blame to both the plaintiff and the defendant. 

In the 1970s, the doctrine of informed consent was created and stands to this day. It requires medical professionals to disclose all the risks of a treatment, procedure, or medication to the patient. That way, the patient is free to decide whether they’ll accept the procedure or not. 

By this point in the history of medical malpractice in the United States, most of the modern principles were established and remain unchanged, bar for maybe malpractice laws put into practice in each state. 

Key elements of a malpractice claim

As with other civil cases, the burden of proof falls on you. You must demonstrate that elements of a malpractice claim exist if you’re to recover monetary damages. These elements include:

• Medical provider had a professional duty to you
• They failed to fulfill their duty in a way no competent physician with similar experience and training would have
• You suffered harm because of the medical professional’s failure to meet standards of care

Types of medical malpractice

Common examples of medical malpractice include:

• Misdiagnosis: failure of a medical professional who diagnoses you with the wrong medical condition
• Delayed diagnosis: since many medical conditions require prompt diagnosis, if a doctor fails to diagnose a condition in due time, they have acted negligently
• Failure to obtain consent: if a healthcare provider doesn’t inform you of the risk of a procedure and doesn’t get your permission, they’re guilty of malpractice
• Incorrect treatment: if the doctor offered treatment no competent physician would have in similar circumstances, it’s a clear sign of negligence
• Surgical malpractice: any surgical mistake that falls beneath the standards of care is grounds for a malpractice suit
• Wrongful death: if a mistake by a medical professional caused death, the family of the deceased patient can pursue a wrongful death lawsuit

How to get compensated for medical malpractice

Legally, you are allowed to pursue a claim against the physician who harmed you, but you may also sue the medical institution that employed the negligent care provider. This option is available if the institution had subpar hiring practices or failed to provide adequate training to staff. 

Regardless of the party/parties you pursue a claim against, you can either sue or settle. If you choose to sue, the court will determine whether the defendant is liable, as well as how much compensation they need to pay.

If you settle, you lose your right to sue, but you receive a payment offered by the physician’s malpractice insurer.

Most malpractice cases are settled out of court. 

Pursue justice now!

Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit will provide you with the closure you need, and more importantly, help you put your life back on track. 

It’s worth noting that even in a straightforward case, proving malpractice can be difficult, which is why you should hire an attorney as early as possible in the process. A legal professional will help you gather evidence and allow you to demonstrate that the physician failed to meet standards of care, thus increasing your chances of receiving the full amount of compensation you deserve. 

Your attorney’s experience and expertise will play a major role in how the case ultimately pans out, which is why you should only work with the best. Here at Sowell Chakour, we exclusively work with victims of malpractice and have all the necessary resources to see every case through to the bitter end.

Since our attorneys come from a medical background, we also have the insider knowledge required to take the case to a higher level - something that your case may actually need. 

Schedule a free case evaluation by calling (833) 633-6257 or filling out our contact form.

Note: 

The information in this blog post is for reference only and not legal advice. As such, you should not make legal decisions 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.