Medical malpractice is medical negligence. It is when a health care provider does something he or she should not have done, or fails to do something he or she should have done.

It is similar to the standard applied to every driver in this country. When you fail to act as the average prudent driver would have acted, and your action causes injury, you are liable for that injury.

This standard is applied to every physician, hospital, nurse, and health care provider. They may be liable for injuries caused by their substandard care. However, because the standard is being applied to a trained medical provider, the measure applied is what a reasonably well qualified health care provider would have done under like or similar circumstances. The health care professions determine this standard, while the local jury insures its adherence. The jury learns this standard through the testimony of medical experts.

Physicians do not provide warranties or guarantees. All medical care carries some risk of complications. When a complication known to occur in a given type of medical care occurs despite proper care, it is called an unavoidable risk. However, the occurrence of a known complication may or may not have been due to negligence. Only a complete and thorough review of your medical records can determine if you are the victim of medical negligence or have suffered an unavoidable injury.

What must be proven to win a Medical Malpractice case?
To win a malpractice case, the person bringing the lawsuit (plaintiff) must prove that a medical provider acted below the standard of care and thereby caused the injury.

What are the major defenses to a medical malpractice claim?
Known risk – That the injury was a known and accepted risk of the procedure.
No deviation of the standard of care – That the medical care provided was within the “standard of medical care” and an acceptable exercise of the providers judgement.

Contributory negligence – That even if a health care provider was negligent, the patient made the injury worse by his or her own negligence usually by not following medical advice.

The negligence was not the cause of the injury – Patients are usually sick or injured before they come to a physician or hospital. A medical provider will often argue that this “preexisting” condition is what really caused the harm, not their negligence. To prevail when this defense is used, a plaintiff’s attorney must distinguish the newly caused injury from the condition that brought the plaintiff to the medical care in the first place.

Settlements and Trial
Insurance companies spend large amounts of money to defend malpractice cases. Law firms without adequate resources can be outspend and out maneuvered, to the detriment of their clients. You need attorneys with the resources and willingness to expend them on your behalf. Often times insurance companies will only settle cases reasonably when they encounter plaintiff’s attorneys with a record of trial experience and success. At other times, the real value of a case can only be obtained when the case is tried to a verdict by skilled, experienced trial attorneys. Either way, you need attorneys whose skills the insurance companies respect.
The key to winning

Hire a law firm experienced in medical malpractice. The attorneys at Sharpe Trial Law have over 35 years of experience in representing injured parties.

Consultations are always free.

The law offices of Tracy Sharpe will provide you with an immediate and free telephone consultation. Based on this initial consultation, an additional free review of your medical records may follow.