Monday, November 17, 2008

If a procedure failed is that medical malpractice?

We have to be clear on this. Not all medical injury is the result of medical negligence or doctor malpractice. No doctor is perfect, and operations and treatments may not always be successful.

A procedure may result in an unfortunate outcome or even death, but these circumstances do not mean that the doctor has been negligent or treatment constituted medical or doctor malpractice. The law acknowledges that medicine is not a precise science and that doctors make mistakes.

If that’s the case, how would we know whether the doctor has committed medical malpractice?

The test is if the doctor does not live up to the appropriate professional standards, then he or she is liable for doctor malpractice.

Medical or doctor malpractice simply means failure on the doctor’s part to use the ordinary skill and care used by other doctors under similar circumstances and the patient suffered as a result. Acts that constitute doctor malpractice include failure to diagnose an illness, failure to do tests, making surgical errors, delaying treatment, or giving the wrong medication.

Doctor malpractice litigation is often expensive, highly contested, as well as strongly defended. It entails a thorough knowledge of medical procedures as well as the use of medical experts’ testimonies.

If you believe that you have been a victim of medical or doctor malpractice, then you need skilled legal advice from a malpractice lawyer or attorney. Your medical malpractice attorney will weigh all possibilities and determine whether or not you should pursue the matter.

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