All medical care and treatment carry risks of an unexpected outcome that is harmful to the patient. For example, when a surgical procedure is recommended to a patient, the medical provider is required to explain to the patient the various alternatives of medical treatment that are available as well as the risks involved with the alternatives. Obtaining the patient’s “informed consent” for nonemergency treatment is required because the patient has the right to autonomy in making decisons regarding their own body.
While all medical treatment involves risks of adverse outcomes, it is when a medical provider fails to provide care consistent with what is expected of them that the medical provider may be held responsible for the harm suffered by a patient due to such substandard care. The care required to be provided by a medical provider is often referred to as “the standard of care” and is generally defined as what a reasonalbly competent medical provider would do under the same or similar circumstances. It is when a medical provider fails to act within the standard of care and harm is suffered by a patient as a result, that it can be alleged that medical malpractice has occurred.
Many times there is a disagreement between the medical provider and the patient who suffered an adverse outcome as to the reason the patient was harmed: the medical provider alleges that they provided treatment consistent with the standard of care but the patient argues that the medical provider breached the standard of care that caused the adverse outcome. The disagreement therefore becomes the basis of a medical malpractice claim unless it is obvious that the standard of care was breached, such as when a surgeon inexplicably amputates the wrong leg or removes the wrong organ.
Even when an adverse outcome seems to a layperson to be clearly due to medical malpractice, many medical providers will nonetheless deny that they breached the standard of care or that their negligence caused the harm claimed by the patient. For instance, a medical provider may deny responsbility where a delay in diagnosing and treating cancer is the basis of a patient’s medical malpractice claim because the medical provider argues that the patient did not suffer harm as a result of the delay (the patient must prove not only medical negligence but must also prove the harm that resulted from the medical negligence – in the delay in diagnosing cancer claim, the medical provider may argue that the patient would have suffered the same harm even had they received the proper treatment).
Because the patient is required to establish both the standard of care and the harm suffered as a result of the breach of the standard of care in order to recover damages for the injuries they sustained, the patient must obtain appropriate medical expert(s) opinions regarding those issues. The patient may be required to obtain multiple experts opinions in different fields of medicine in order to prove their medical malpractice case (as to liability and damages). Even where it appears on the surface that the medical provider was negligent, the defense will often find an expert who will tesify to the contrary (that is, that the medical provider did not breach the standard of care or that the injuries claimed were not due to the medical negligence of the medical provider), which is referred to as “the battle of the experts.” It will then be up to a jury to decide which expert(s) to believe.
Hence, while all parties may agree that a patient sustained an unexpected outcome from medical treatment, the medical provider may argue that it was an unfortunate result of proper medical tretament but was not due to medical malpractice.
If you or a loved one may have been harmed as a result of medical malpractice in the United States, you should promptly find a medical malpractice lawyer in your state who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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