Medical malpractice cases are increasingly becoming common across the U.S. Medical errors can cause serious health complications or even death. If you or your loved one experiences medical malpractice, you should consider filing a compensation claim. Like most personal injury cases, you should prove several elements.
The first element is that you had a patient-provider relationship with the healthcare provider. You should also prove that the healthcare provider was negligent and the harm suffered resulted from their negligence. Proving this without help from legal professionals is challenging. Fortunately, medical malpractice lawyers from The Tinker Law Firm PLLC can help. Even then, this doesn’t guarantee that your case will succeed. Your medical malpractice claim may be dismissed for the following reasons:
1. Lack of Sufficient Evidence
Succeeding in a court case requires that you mount strong evidence to support your claims. Like other cases, medical malpractice cases heavily hinge on proving that healthcare providers’ negligence caused your injuries. To establish the claim successfully, you should present compelling evidence demonstrating the link between the healthcare provider’s breach of the expected standard of care and your injuries.
To demonstrate a breach of care, you should show that the healthcare provider’s actions deviated from what another reasonable and competent medical personnel would have done. This requires help from an expert medical testimony to outline the expected course of action. Ascertaining that negligence occurred without expert insight is difficult.
Similarly, you should prove that the injuries suffered resulted from these medical errors. This might prove challenging as the defense may claim other factors caused your injuries. You should gather all possible evidence before filing your case.
2. Informed Consent
Informed consent is part of medical treatment and can affect your medical malpractice case. Healthcare providers must explain medical procedures and treatment options and obtain informed consent from patients. Their explanation should include the procedure’s benefits, risks, and potential complications.
The defendants can use informed consent to defend their case. If you agreed to a procedure that later resulted in complications, the healthcare provider could argue that they had informed you of the risks. However, informed consent isn’t an absolute shield if the doctor defied standards of care.
3. Pre Existing Conditions
Pre-existing conditions can also affect the outcome of your medical malpractice suit as it introduces complexities in evaluating the extent of damages. Healthcare providers can argue that your preexisting conditions were the cause of your complications and not their actions.
They can also contend that you were already predisposed to certain complications. This makes it difficult to establish a direct link between their acts of negligence and the harm you’ve suffered. Proving medical causation in medical malpractice cases for patients with preexisting conditions requires thoroughly examining medical records.
Endnote
While medical malpractice cases are very popular, most are dismissed. Proving liability and being compensated for the injuries suffered is challenging. The jury may reject your claim for these and many other reasons. Your medical malpractice suit can also be dropped due to expired deadlines.
