Questions About Medical Malpractice
Spokane, Washington
What does medical malpractice mean?
Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor or other health care professional breaches their duty of reasonable care and such action, or lack thereof, leads to harm or injury. Patients rely on doctors and health care professionals to diagnose and treat their condition. When they fail to live up to their duty and provide reasonable care, resulting in harm to the patient, they are guilty of medical malpractice.
What sort of errors do doctors make?
Medical malpractice results from a number of different situations:
- Prescription drug errors
- Failure to diagnose
- Failure to treat
- Lack of necessary follow-up care
- Surgical errors
Those listed above are just a few of the errors the medical malpractice attorneys at Craig Swapp & Associates have seen. There are a number of mistakes doctors can make that result in harm to their patients, and medical malpractice laws hold them liable.
What needs to be proven in order to receive compensation?
Under medical malpractice laws, the following elements must be proven in order for compensation to be awarded:
- Duty. It must be proven that the doctor or medical professional you are alleging committed medical malpractice owed you a duty of reasonable medical care. This care more often than not exists in the doctor-patient relationship.
- Harm. It must also be shown that whatever mistake the doctor or medical professional allegedly made resulted in harm or injury to you.
- Causation. This means that you would not have suffered the harm or injury you did if the doctor or medical professional did not make the mistake. The fact that the doctor made a mistake is not enough. You must show that the harm you suffered was not inevitable, that you would not have been harmed in that way had the doctor not made the mistake.
Who can I sue?
Malpractice suits can be brought against a number of different medical professionals. This includes doctors, nurses, nursing homes, and even employees of the hospital.
If you or a loved has been the victim of medical malpractice in Washington, please contact the experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Craig Swapp & Associates in Spokane, Washington today to schedule your no-cost, confidential consultation. One call, that’s all.
Don’t see your question? Contact us and one of our Spokane personal injury attorneys will answer your question.
