Medical Malpractice FAQs

What constitutes medical malpractice?

A negative outcome from medical care does not always mean that you have been the victim of medical malpractice. On the other hand, smooth-talking healthcare professionals often convince victims and their families that avoidable injuries or death were just part of the normal risks of their procedure or condition.

The three basic elements necessary to establish medical malpractice are:

  • A professional relationship existed between the victim and the health care professional. Picking a name out of a phone book and calling to ask a question does not establish a professional relationship. Emergency rooms are required by law to stabilize patients with life-threatening emergencies and to help women in labor who seek emergency care, even when no prior relationship has been established.
  • The health care professional performed below the normal standard of care that any other health care professional would have used under the same circumstances.
  • The victim suffered physical or financial harm.

What are some common types of medical malpractice?

Some of the common types of medical malpractice that result in harm or death include:

  • Birth injury
  • Surgical error
  • Anesthesia error
  • Misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, or failure to diagnose health problems including, but not limited to, cancer, heart attack, and stroke
  • Medication error
  • Emergency room error, including patient dumping

What are the consequences of failure to diagnose, delayed diagnosis, or misdiagnosis?

Failure to diagnose or a delayed diagnosis can have many serious consequences including:

  • Death
  • Permanent disability
  • The need for more radical, expensive, painful, and dangerous treatments
  • Progression of a condition, such as cancer, to the point that it can no longer be successfully treated
  • A more severe recurrence of a health event such as stroke or heart attack
  • Disfigurement
  • Pain and suffering
  • Undergoing the wrong treatment, sometimes dangerous treatments, for a condition you do not have

Who can be held responsible for medical malpractice?

All kinds of health care professionals can be held responsible for medical malpractice, not just those we think of as "doctors." Health care facilities, institutions and companies can be held responsible as well. A single medical malpractice case can have multiple responsible parties. Those who may be held responsible for medical malpractice include:

  • Doctors
  • Nurses
  • Surgeons
  • Surgical staff
  • Anesthesiologists
  • Emergency room staff
  • Hospitals
  • Dentists
  • Dermatologists
  • Cosmetic surgeons
  • Psychiatrists
  • Psychiatric hospitals
  • Nursing homes
  • Prisons and jails
  • Government institutions
  • Pharmaceutical companies

Our medical malpractice attorneys will work hard to get full compensation for our clients and their innocent families. If your loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice, please e-mail or call 1-877-LOSS-RECOVER (567-7732) today. All consultations are FREE and our lawyers work on a contingency basis. This means that you pay NOTHING until your case is WON!