A patient who suffers injuries or an adverse health outcome from medical care may have a medical malpractice claim against their provider. However, recovering compensation in a malpractice case requires showing that the provider rendered negligent care.
Understanding Medical Negligence
Medical negligence occurs when a healthcare provider renders substandard treatment to a patient, which results in the patient suffering harm. However, not every adverse outcome of treatment results from negligence. Instead, negligence requires a lack of care in treatment decisions or actions.
Four Elements of Medical Negligence
As with all negligence claims, medical malpractice cases require patients to prove four legal elements: duty, breach, causation, and damages. In a medical malpractice claim, a patient must establish the applicable standard of care in their treatment. Although the specifics of the standard of care vary from case to case, providers generally describe the standard of medical care as the treatment decisions and actions that other providers of similar training and experience would make in identical circumstances. Thus, proving medical negligence requires showing that other providers would have made different choices in the patient’s care.
A patient must also show how their provider’s actions failed to meet the applicable standard of care. In most cases, expert testimony can establish how a provider deviated from the standard of care.
Patients must also prove that a provider’s deviation from the applicable standard of care caused the patient’s claimed harm by showing that the patient’s adverse outcome would not have occurred but for the provider’s deviation and that the provider should have foreseen that their actions would have harmed the patient.
Finally, a patient must demonstrate their damages by documenting the medical harm they sustained and financial losses, such as additional medical expenses, lost wages/earning capacity, and pain and suffering.
What Evidence Do You Need to Prove a Medical Malpractice Claim?
Many cases of medical malpractice do not involve obvious signs of a doctor’s negligence. As a result, patients must gather substantial evidence to prove that a healthcare provider’s actions or decisions fell below the accepted standard of care. Common examples of evidence used to prove medical malpractice cases include:
- Medical records
- Test results
- Statements from medical/facility staff and family members
- Surveillance footage
- Progress charts
- Medication records
In most cases, a patient pursuing a medical malpractice claim will need expert testimony from a physician or healthcare provider of the same profession and specialty as the defendant. Medical experts in malpractice cases inform the jury of the applicable standard of care in the patient’s case and explain how the defendant’s decisions or actions failed to comply with the standard of care and caused the plaintiff’s claimed injury.
Other Legal Considerations
Other legal considerations can come into play when trying to prove negligence in a medical malpractice case. For example, a healthcare provider may argue that the patient bears some responsibility for the harm they suffered due to the patient’s failure to follow treatment recommendations or recovery instructions. As a result, medical malpractice cases may involve comparative negligence questions, which may preclude a patient’s ability to seek compensation.
Furthermore, when a patient has multiple providers involved in their care, a jury may have to evaluate each provider’s negligence and how it contributed to the patient’s harm.
In New York, the statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is generally two years and six months from the date of the alleged malpractice or from the date the patient discovers or reasonably should have discovered the injury. However, in cases involving continuous treatment, the time limit may be extended until the end of the treatment period. Additionally, there is a maximum limit of seven years from the date of the alleged malpractice, regardless of when the injury was discovered.
Contact a Medical Malpractice Attorney to Learn More
After suffering an adverse outcome from medical care, you may have a medical malpractice claim to recover compensation for your harm and loss. Contact McCann Legal, PC today for a free, no-obligation consultation with a knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney to learn more about what you will need to prove your healthcare provider’s negligence in a medical malpractice case.