Get Ahead in Your Personal Injury Case

Ordinary Prudence And Medical Malpractice

20 March 2015 by Kenneth Pierce

Anyone is capable of making an accident, even in life and death situations. Unfortunately, no human is without error-- and this reality extends to even those with years of medical knowledge and expertise in their field. While doctors and their medical assistants are expected to be knowledgeable and confident about what they're doing before heading into a dangerous surgery, the truth is that there are times when even the best efforts preformed by the top surgeon can fail due to accidents or mistakes. Since all humans are prone to accidents, it would be unfair to hold each doctor to the fire for every mistake they make-- but there's a clear difference when negligence is an involved factor. If you suspect that your doctor or surgeon may have been negligent during a surgery (resulting in additional problems or even a death), it may be time to contact a lawyer:

Reasonable Person

If everyone is prone to mistakes, what actually sets medical malpractice apart from an honest accident? The major factor you'll need to consider in your case if you're hoping to have a judge take you seriously is that of ordinary prudence. In other words, consider for a moment how another random individual with the same training and same expertise would have or should have acted in the same situation. Would a reasonable person take similar steps and make the same mistake, or did the individual seem to go out of the realm of normal actions to cause the incident?

Think of it this way: if you are driving in slippery conditions and end up hitting another car, it's likely that the event was a complete accident. If you're purposefully ignoring the icy conditions, driving at high speeds and waiting to put on the brakes, then the "accident" was not really an accident at all.

Spell Out the Damages

Knowing that a surgeon has committed medical malpractice during a surgery on yourself or a loved one is an important first step, but it's not enough to hold up in court. To win your case, you'll need to be able to prove that something bad happened as a result of the negligence. Do you have problems walking as a result of a botched surgery? Has there been a death due to a routine procedure that was handled in a unprofessional way? Was there any pain or suffering (on a short or long term scale) that shouldn't have occurred? Answering these questions is vital to a personal injury case, and an expert attorney can help you to know which details in your situation will hold up in court.

For more information, contact Walz Law Office or a similar firm.

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