How to pursue a claim of medical malpractice
Medical malpractice is negligence on the part of a health care worker either by omission or act that causes any unnecessary pain or discomfort to a patient. The standard of care provided will not comply with the accepted standards of practice set out by the health care service and is deemed unacceptable. As a health care worker, an enormous amount of trust and responsibility is placed on an individual and is a profession that should not be undertaken lightly. Also, standards and regulations relating to medical malpractice vary across countries and jurisdictions within countries also may vary. Therefore, it is important to establish your rights to claim according to your situation. A good way of making sure you have all the details needed to make a claim it is advisable to keep notes of your experience including dates and times where possible. You can then refer back to these notes as evidence to back up your claim.
In order to make a successful medical malpractice claim the patient or a legally designated part acting on behalf of the patient would need to establish that all four elements of negligence had occurred. Firstly, it needs to be established that a duty was owed. This means that whenever a doctor or a nurse becomes involved in treating a patient there is a legal duty on their part to look after them to a standard that complies with professional guidelines. Next it needs to be proven that this duty was then breached by the doctor or nurse. This means that the standard of care carried out does not reach the standards of care expected. This would be proved by expert investigation into the testimony of the patient. Then it needs to be established that this breach of duty has inflicted an injury on the patient. Finally, consequent damages must be noted. These may be emotional or physically but, without any damages there is no basis for a claim regardless of whether the physician was negligent or not.
A claim for medical malpractice must be brought before any limitation period ends. This limit varies between jurisdictions but it is usually between one and five years. This limitation period could begin when the treatment ends or when the negligence is discovered depending on the jurisdictions that certain countries have in place at the time. It is important for a victim to seek professional guidance from a person who has extensive legal and medical experience in order to be completely clear on what their rights are. And also to be given advice on what is the best route to follow in order to ensure success and more importantly justice for a victim. The key to a successful claim is evidence that cannot be disproven and as long as damages have been incurred a patient is legally entitled to compensation of some sort. In some cases no amount of monetary compensation will ease the pain that a patient has had to endure because of the negligence of an individual or an institution, but at least it can be seen as a victory for justice if action is taken to ensure that the incident cannot happen again.
Tags: breach of duty, damages, four elements, jurisdictions, medical malpractice claim, nbsp, nurse, omission, profession, testimony |
