The law surrounding medical malpractice

Recent years have seen a significant rise in the number of hospital negligence cases being brought against doctors and health institutions as a whole. Although many of these cases are quite frivolous and rarely go to court, some are very strong and juries often find in favour of the claimant. Here are some points to note about medical malpractice and the laws that relate to it.

Medical malpractice is when a medical professional acts negligently or incompetently when treating a patient. It can occur when the professional fails to take specific action, or takes action that is incorrect and results in harm. There are three main types of medical malpractice:
• Misdiagnosis, or failure to diagnose, a specific problem.
• Failure to provide appropriate treatment for a problem.
• Unreasonable delay before providing treatment for a condition.

A medical professional can also be held liable if the patient does not give “informed consent” for a specific course of action to be taken and if it results in harm to the patient – even if the procedure was carried out accurately. If a doctor does not offer a patient sufficient information about a procedure, then they cannot make an informed choice about whether to accept treatment or not, and hence the doctor can be held liable.

Filing a lawsuit for medical negligence can be a very long and drawn-out process, with some cases lasting many years with the jury eventually finding in favour of the defendant. There are high costs associated with such a lawsuit because of all the hours that the solicitor is going to be putting into your case, and then taking their standard percentage of the settlement on top of that. There may be a time where the amount of legal costs exceeds how much would be won in a settlement, which forces the claimant to choose between cutting their losses and abandoning their case, or continuing as a matter of principle. As well as taking a long time to settle, such cases are normally found in favour of the medical practitioner, as judges want to limit the number of mass tort cases that would start appearing after just one settlement for the claimant.

About the Author

If you are a victim of hospital negligence and are looking for a good medical solicitor to handle your case, then you should contact the experts at Alexander Harris.

Author Profile: david field

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