Three Points in a Medical Malpractice Case
How do you know whether the error of a medical professional gives you an acceptable ground for filing a claim? This is not an easy task without adequate legal knowledge and expertise. You would need to talk to a medical malpractice attorney to ascertain this before you take any legal action.
You must understand that not all medical errors are suitable grounds for filing cases. You have a case only if the error was a breach of the standard of care available otherwise. What is the standard of care? The standard of medical treatment and care any other professional would provide under the same circumstances.
Suppose you were a 45-year old business executive with a heart complaint in Chicago. If your doctor did not provide you the adequate treatment and care that another professional in the city would provide to another patient, of same age, health condition and lifestyle, there is a breach to the standard of care.
Three significant factors affect this standard – the patient’s age and health condition, and the locality. How does the locality affect the case? Well, a doctor in Chicago has much better access to medical facilities and associated objects than what a doctor practicing in a remote town or village has.
Next is the necessity to establish the existence of injuries. If the medical error did not cause any damage, or worsen your condition, you do not have a case. The basis of a medical malpractice case is the presence of injuries. The severity of the injuries determines the compensation you may get.
The most important task of your Chicago medical malpractice attorney is to establish the ‘causation’ relation between the error and the injuries. This requires presentation of evidence, and expert testimonials. You would need to get medical experts to prove both the standard of care and this causation.
The details involved in these cases make the legal proceeding a lengthy one. You may have to wait for months, and even years, to reach a resolution. The costs are also quite high. However, if you think that you have a case, it is better to get in touch with a proficient attorney immediately.
If your case has merit, the attorney may take it up on contingency fee basis. This means that you pay him/her only after you win the liability claim. However, you may have to pay for other things like court costs and filing fees.
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