Incidents of medical malpractice are, unfortunately, quite common in America – even despite our world-renowned medical facilities and healthcare professionals. When something goes wrong with your healthcare treatment, you may be scrambling for answers. One option could be to pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit. But, what are the building blocks of such a case?
Medical malpractice basics
Well, for starters, it is important to remember that medical malpractice isn’t just limited to occurrences in the surgical room or other parts of a hospital. Malpractice can occur through the incorrect prescription of medications, for example, or even just in your local doctor’s office as you discuss what, exactly, your health condition is. Whatever the circumstances, the first point of a medical malpractice case is this: the healthcare professional in question must have a “duty” to you, as the patient. In most cases, that is the “doctor-patient” relationship.
Next, you must establish that the healthcare professional “breached” the duty owed to you, usually be showing that the healthcare professional deviated from a standard of care for the situation in question. After that, it must be established that the breach of the duty actually caused the problems you claim arose from the alleged malpractice – your worsened condition or injury, for example. And, that injury or worsened condition must actually exist and be provable – the “damages” part of the medical malpractice claim.
These types of lawsuits can get complicated, but that shouldn’t be a reason to deny your right to explore legal options. At our law firm, we do our best to help Kentucky residents who are facing these problems. For more information, please visit the medical malpractice section of our law firm’s website.
