Medical malpractice applies to cases where you are harmed by your doctor when they fail to perform their duties competently. Before you hire a personal injury lawyer, it is important that you familiarise yourself with some basic concepts on medical malpractice. The following article takes you through the law associated with medical malpractice.

What Is Required For a Medical Malpractice Claim?

In order to prove the occurrence of medical malpractice, you should show the following:

The existence of a relationship between the doctor and yourself. This implies you hired the doctor who in turn agreed to treat you. For instance, you cannot make a claim against a doctor whom you overheard offering advice at a party.

The negligence of your doctor. You should show how the doctor caused harm in a situation where a competent doctor would have acted differently. Most states will require you to have a medical expert explain the standards of medical care and show the way these standards were breached.

The injury was caused by the negligence of the doctor. Most cases of malpractice involve patients who are already injured or sick, raising the question of whether the doctor caused the harm. For instance, in a case where a lung cancer patient dies after treatment and the doctor did some negligent act, it becomes hard to prove that the negligence of the doctor was the cause of the patient's death and not the cancer. It is upon the patient to show how the doctor's incompetence caused the injury.

The injury caused specific damages. Even though you can show that the doctor was negligent, you cannot sue if you did not get harmed. The following are the kinds of harm you can sue for:

• Mental anguish
• Physical pain
• Lost earning capacity
• Lost work
• Additional medical bills

Common Kinds of Medical Malpractice

Failure to diagnose. If it is found that a sober minded doctor would have come to a different diagnosis that would have caused an outcome that is better than the one achieved, then you have a strong medical malpractice claim.

Failure to alert the patient concerning known risks. It is the duty of the doctor to warn you of the risks associated with particular procedures. This duty is referred to as informed consent. If it is found that you would have not chosen treatment if you were informed of the risks, then you can claim malpractice if you get injured in the course of treatment.

Improper treatment. If a doctor administers treatment incompetently or treats you the way a competent doctor would not, then you can sue for malpractice.

For more information, contact a company such as Kemp Law.