Who is Responsible for Medical Malpractice?

There may be one party that is responsible for medical malpractice or there may be several. Many medical malpractice cases involve more than one defendant and part of concluding a case at trial is determining liability. For example, you may have three defendants, and a jury finds that one is 50% responsible while the other two are each 25% responsible. Part of what makes medical malpractice cases difficult is that when multiple defendants are involved, there can be a lot of blame shifting and arguing which can cause even greater confusion about what actually happened to the plaintiff and who or what caused it to happen.

What is medical malpractice?

Medical malpractice occurs when a medical professional’s negligence causes injuries to a patient. In order to prove medical negligence and causation, your attorney will conduct a thorough investigation to gather evidence supporting a medical malpractice claim.  The following elements must be satisfied to prove medical malpractice occurred:

  • A medical provider and patient relationship must have been established. This relationship is fairly simple to prove in most, but not all cases. In many cases, it is simply a matter of showing that the patient was under the doctor’s care or consulted with a doctor during a medical appointment.
  • Negligence must be proved. Negligence exists when the medical professional breaches the medical standard of care. The standard of care is basically whether or not the medical professional exercised the care, skill, and competence that would be exercised by his or her medical professional peers.
  • The plaintiff must prove that the negligence caused his or her injuries.
  • Finally, the plaintiff must show that he or she has quantifiable injuries that can be compensated for economically.

Who can be responsible for medical malpractice cases?

Medical professionals, staff, and their employers all may be responsible. Medical professional does not just refer to doctors; it refers to other medical positions such as nurses, pharmacists, nursing aids, and emergency medical technicians. Medical organizations may also be defendants in medical malpractice claims including:

  • Hospitals and medical centers
  • Medical clinics
  • Nursing homes
  • Medical practices
  • Rehabilitation and physical therapy centers
  • Pharmaceutical companies

Common types of malpractice

Common malpractice cases include misdiagnosis, improper prescription, failure to review patient’s medical history, surgical errors including operating on the wrong body part or leaving a foreign object inside the plaintiff’s body, and failure to recognize symptoms. Anesthesia injuries and child birth injuries are among the most common malpractice injuries.

Compensation

Victims of medical malpractice deserve to be fully and fairly compensated for their injuries. Compensation may include but is not limited to lost wages, lost future earnings, medical costs (past, ongoing, and future), pain and suffering, disability, and emotional distress. A good medical malpractice attorney will work with you to determine the extent of your injuries and damages. He or she may arrange an independent medical examination for you in order to adequately value your claim. There is no one size fits all when it comes to valuing your case and a good attorney will take the time to fairly assess and value your claim.

If you have or may have been injured as a result of medical malpractice, contact Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney, Eric Weitz, with The Weitz Firm, LLC. You deserve to be compensated for your injuries and our medical malpractice team has spent more than 25 years securing financial recoveries for our medical malpractice clients.

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