It is not always easy to tell when you have a medical malpractice case, especially since most doctors will try and keep you from knowing the details if a mistake occurred. You must have had some type of harm come to you that came from a mistake or the negligence of a medical professional in order to qualify for most medical malpractice cases. However, understanding what that means is not quite so cut and dry.
The Types of Medical Malpractice
There are two main types of medical malpractice—negligence and injury. If a doctor or other medical professional was negligent, this means that the professional you saw did something that was substandard to the normal care that you should have gotten from any other doctor for your condition. This standard of care is determined by what is coming across as wrong through your symptomology, how old you are, the area in which you reside, and what about your lifestyle could be causing the symptoms you are showing currently. In order for a doctor to have a medical malpractice case brought against them for injury or even death, the medical professional needs to have done something directly to have caused the person harm that is provable in court. People make mistakes; to err is human. However, if there was something done that could have been prevented that directly caused you irreparable damage or harm, or killed someone that you are seeking restitution on behalf of, this can turn into a lawsuit.
What You Should Do When You Suspect Medical Malpractice
The first thing you need to do if you suspect that your medical professional did something wrong is to get a second opinion. This can be from an outside professional, or even from a doctor at an emergency room, but the higher up the chain of expertise you get, the better. After all, you will need to provide proof from an expert that the mistake or injury was a direct result of something your doctor did or neglected to do. Once you have this, it is time to contact a lawyer and get all of the evidence gathered so that you can take your lawsuit in front of a judge.