Individuals can seek compensation for medical malpractice in cases where they have been injured or lost a loved one due to errors on the part of a healthcare provider. Medical malpractice is when a health care provider is negligent, reckless, intentionally harmful, or dishonest. This negligence can lead to serious injuries and even death. Claims for medical malpractice are made against both healthcare providers and institutions. The best strategy for seeking compensation will depend on the type of claim involved in the case itself: medical negligence, wrongful death, or loss of consortium (loss of companionship).
What Are the Different Types of Litigation for Medical Negligence?
Medical negligence is when a doctor or healthcare professional fails to provide the standard of care that they should be providing. This can result in injury or death of the patient, which is why it is important to understand the different types of litigation that can occur from these kinds of cases. There are three types of litigation that can happen for medical negligence: product liability, malpractice, and wrongful death.
Product liability claims are when the patient has evidence to prove that their injury was caused by a defective medical device. Malpractice claims are when the patient has evidence showing that they were not given the proper care they deserved. Lastly, wrongful death lawsuits happen if there was malicious intent on behalf of the healthcare professional or company to cause injury or death to a patient.
How Can You Recover Damages From a Doctor’s Negligence?
Negligence is a term that is used to describe when someone has failed to do their duty. This can be either by not doing something they should have done or by doing something they should not have done. There are four types of negligence:
- Ordinary Negligence: The doctor failed to do what a reasonable person would have done in the same circumstance.
- Reckless Negligence: The doctor was aware that there was an unreasonable risk of harm, yet acted in the face of it anyway.
- Gross Negligence: The doctor knew about the unreasonable risk and failed to take action despite it.
- Willful Neglect: The doctor knew about the risk, but also knew that acting in accordance with their knowledge would cause harm, nonetheless acted regardless.
Even if you’re not sure if you’re entitled to compensation, you should seek legal advice from a medical malpractice lawyer because the law is complex and you may not realize the extent or the consequence of the doctor’s negligence to your health.
Doctors get away with leaving patients worse off because they are not being held accountable for their actions. In the medical industry, it is much less likely that a doctor will be reprimanded for prescribing more drugs or treatments than necessary and leaving a patient worse off than when they started. Doctors have been given the power to determine what treatments a patient needs without any accountability in place. This is why unethical doctors are able to get away with not taking care of their patients.
Author information: Emma Sturgis is a freelance writer based out of Boston, MA. She writes most often on health and education. When not writing, she enjoys reading and watching film noir. Say hi on Twitter @EmmaSturgis2.
