Doctors are humans and cannot be expected to be perfect and make no mistakes. However, it is expected that doctors perform at a certain level of proficiency and professionalism. By neglecting the proper standard of care, a doctor can cause severe injuries to their patients. If you think your doctor has been negligent with your care, you may have a malpractice claim against them.

As the plaintiff in a personal injury case, the burden of proof falls on you. This means that you must be able to prove medical malpractice in order to win. Before you serve your doctor with a lawsuit, make sure you can prove the following.

Doctor-Patient Relationship

You must be able to show that you had a physician-patient relationship with the doctor you are suing. This professional relationship means that the doctor had a legal duty to treat you with the proper care. You cannot sue a doctor you met at a party that gives you bad medical advice. The established professional physician-patient relationship must exist at the occurrence of the malpractice.

Negligence

Proving that your doctor was negligent with your care is the most crucial part of your medical malpractice case. Just because you were unhappy with the outcome of the care provided by your doctor does not mean they were negligent. Negligence is based on if your doctor caused you harm in a way that a competent doctor would not have in the same situation. The doctor has to be at least reasonably skillful and careful to avoid liability for malpractice.

To determine negligence, your attorney will most likely look for an expert in the same specialty as the doctor you are suing to testify on your behalf. A medical expert who is familiar with the speciality as the defendant doctor will be more credible for your case. So if you are suing your orthopedic doctor, your attorney should find a medical expert who is also an orthopedic doctor to have a strong testimony.

Negligence Caused Injury

The injuries you have must have a direct link to the negligence of your doctor in order to win a medical malpractice case. The medical expert must be able to prove that the defendant doctor was negligent and that negligence caused the injury that you are now facing. A medical complication is not grounds for malpractice.

Injury lead to damages

Once you have proved that your doctor was negligent and their negligence caused you injury, you can show the damages you are now suffering. Damages can include: physical pain, mental anguish, additional medical bills, and lost earning capacity.

If you think you have been a victim of medical malpractice, we want to help you. For more information, please call us today .