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What is Malpractice?
Malpractice and Medicine
If a healthcare professional provides treatment to patients that is below the typical medical standard of care expected, it could be considered malpractice. If it can be proven that medical malpractice caused some sort of injury for a patient, it means that the patient or their loved ones can pursue legal action against the doctor or other healthcare professional.
Medical standard of care
It is important to understand what medical standard of care means when defining malpractice. This is simply the level and type of care that would be administered by a competent healthcare professional in the same field and with similar training and in the same situation. This can be difficult to determine, which is why attorneys will typically use expert medical witnesses to help them make their case. These experts can testify as to what the standard of care would be and then it is possible to look at the way the defendant conducted themselves against that standard.
Types of medical malpractice
You also need to understand that there are different types of medical malpractice. One of the types of malpractice would be malpractice by commission, and another would be malpractice by omission.
When a doctor or other healthcare provider takes actions that injure the patient, such as providing an unneeded operation, it is called malpractice by commission. When the doctor fails to do something that causes problems for a patient, such as not being able to identify a serious health condition, it is considered malpractice by omission. Whether there are mistakes in treatment, wrong diagnoses, or other problems, it is important to know whether the doctor could be sued for malpractice.
What should you do?
For those who believe that they have a case that fits the medical malpractice definition, it is important to get in touch with an attorney as soon as possible. Because it is difficult to determine exactly what will constitute medical malpractice for those who are not experts, having an attorney look at your case can give you some peace of mind. The lawyer can look at the evidence of your case and then decide whether you should move forward with a lawsuit.
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