A Few Facts about Medical Malpractice Lawsuits

When someone is in the hospital or in the care of any type of health care provider, there must be a level of trust that the health care provider is going to do the right things in order to keep or make the patient as healthy as possible. In too many cases, however, errors or recklessness on the part of the health care provider results in injury or death to the patient. When that happens, the injured party of their survivors can file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

An explanation of medical malpractice by Yale University explains that there must be four elements present in order to qualify for a medical malpractice lawsuit.

The first is that a "duty was owed". This happens anytime a patient is under the care of a health care provider. That provider has a duty to the patient to provide appropriate care.

The next element is that the "duty was breached". This means simply that the health care provider failed to provide appropriate care either through neglect, recklessness or omission.

The third element that must be present for a medical malpractice lawsuit is that the "breach caused an injury." The plaintiff must be able to show the injuries in question were caused by a lack of proper care that was expected and owed of the health care provider.

Finally, there must be "damages." The patient must have caused some type of damage to the patient. This could include inability to work, emotional distress, pain and loss of companionship just to name a few.

If those four elements are present, then you may have the basis for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Some think that only medical doctors can be sued for medical malpractice. The truth is that any health care provider, including nurses, dentists and others, can also be held liable for medical malpractice.

If you think that you might have such a case, it is important to enlist the help of a personal injury lawyer with plenty of experience handling medical malpractice lawsuits. This will provide your best chance of getting any compensation that you deserve.

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