Medical malpractice, when you hear it, probably has a completely negative tone. The truth is that it’s a necessary evil in some ways, because it’s only through malpractice that negligence or dangers are discovered. On top of that, having high malpractice premiums can make health care providers more careful about the way they work with patients.
In legal terms, medical malpractice cases take place any time a patient is hurt by a doctor’s care or lack of care. For instance, if you’re scheduled for an emergency surgery that gets rescheduled, you could find yourself in danger. If your symptoms worsen and you are injured, you could claim that your injuries are the result of negligence on the part of the medical team for having no backup plan for your treatment.
Another reason malpractice is good for medical providers, even though it’s costly and can get them into trouble, is because it offers a way to teach physicians and surgeons who make mistakes. Sometimes, malpractice really is a mistake that’s made without knowing it, so for those medical professionals, understanding where they went wrong is paramount.
As a patient, it doesn’t matter why malpractice is good for the medical world; you were injured. It might have been because the doctor was negligent or distracted during a procedure, or it could have been a lack of care provided to you. Whatever the cause, you deserved better care and shouldn’t have had to suffer under someone’s poor care. An attorney can help you build a case against the doctor who hurt you by using information from the Medical Board’s review of the situation as well as the history of your medical records.
Source: MedMalFacts, “Patient Safety,” accessed Dec. 11, 2015