Medical malpractice suits typically prove that the treatment provided by the doctor, nurse, or other medical professional was not only negligent but also caused harm to the patient due to their negligence.
If you or someone you love has been harmed due to negligence by a doctor, nurse, or other medical professional and wishes to file a lawsuit against them, you must prove to be successful in your lawsuit. And that’s where you need a New York City malpractice attorney.
Here are four things you must prove:
1. Duty to Patient
This is typically the first thing that must be proven in a medical malpractice lawsuit. The plaintiff (the person filing the lawsuit) must show that the defendant (the doctor) owed them a duty of care. This means that the doctor was responsible for providing the patient with a certain standard of care. It also means that the doctor failed to meet this standard, and it caused injury or death.
2. Standard of Care
To win a medical malpractice lawsuit, you must be able to prove that the health care professional in question acted negligently. This means they did not provide the standard of care that a reasonably prudent health care professional would have provided in the same or similar circumstances.
Factors affecting the standard of care include the severity of the patient’s condition, available resources, and prevailing medical practices. The court will also examine whether there was any deviation from established standards for diagnosing, treating, operating on, or recommending preventive treatment for the plaintiff. What counts as an established standard? Usually, evidence-based guidelines are established by experts within the relevant field.
3. Causation
To win a medical malpractice lawsuit, you must first prove that the defendant (a doctor or other medical professional) caused your injuries. This requires showing that the defendant’s actions were negligent or reckless and that this negligence led directly to your injuries. You will need evidence to support your claim, including expert testimony, medical records, and eyewitness accounts.
4. Damages (Economic & Non-Economic Loss)
To win a medical malpractice lawsuit, you must be able to prove that the defendant caused you damages. These damages can be economic, such as lost wages or medical bills, or non-economic, such as pain and suffering. To win your case, you will need to show that the defendant’s actions were the cause of your damages. For example, if you had a botched operation, this is evidence of a lack of skill on the surgeon’s part. In some cases, such as if the surgery were necessary for your survival and did not work out because of the doctor’s negligence, you would have suffered a non-economic loss (such as pain and suffering).
Conclusion
There needs to be an actual connection between the negligence and the harm: If you are not injured, you cannot win a medical malpractice suit. The plaintiff has to prove causation, which means they have to show that, but the negligence would not have harmed them. They also need to prove damages: how much they lost as a result of being harmed by the doctor’s negligence.
