Liability in Medical Malpractice Cases...
Medical malpractice is a difficult area to discuss. There are differences between what people think it is, and what it actually is. Some people feel that any negative effect brought on by an interaction with a doctor constitutes medical malpractice, but that's simply not the case.
When practicing medicine ("practicing" is an interesting word here) doctors do not always do their jobs perfectly. In fact there's no profession where you'll find many, if any, perfect people doing the job. It’s impossible, illogical and just isn’t human nature.
So why do medical malpractice suits happen so often? This can be for a number of reasons.
One possible reason is that medical T.V. shows in the past portrayed doctors as being infallible heroes. No one would want to watch a medical drama where the doctor always loses. As a result, we're conditioned to think real doctors should have all the answers and act with great intuition and precision.
Another possible reason is that doctors have earned our respect and we look to them to solve our physical and mental problems. When a doctor lets us down, we take it very personally. We're hurt, and a part of us wants to hurt the doctor back.
One more possible reason is that we've learned over the years that medical malpractice suits can be incredibly lucrative. Sadly, we live in a society where we're taught that we can turn our pain into money.
All of these issues are important and play a significant role in pursuing these cases. As any medical malpractice attorney will tell you, or should tell you, this is not an easy thing to do. It involves researching medical records, investigating injuries, getting witnesses and expert opinions. All of this translates into a lot of time and expense.
And in the end, all of that work rarely pays off. Why? Because doctors aren’t infallible beings, and they aren’t expected to be by their profession or by the law.
In most states the law stresses that doctors are required to act in reasonable ways. If their reasonable actions result in injury, they can't be held legally accountable. If their mis-diagnosis resulted in injury, disability or loss of life, they can’t be held liable as long as it was a reasonable diagnosis at the time.
Furthermore, medical malpractice attorneys know that these cases can be emotionally painful for everyone involved. If it isn’t strikingly clear that the doctor did something wrong, then you may be advised that the mental anguish isn't worth pursuing the case. Even when doctor error is likely, they will rarely admit it. Because of the cost, and the blemish to their record, you’ll need a judge to convince them to admit any error or wrongdoing.
It is true that there are huge payouts in these types of cases. Damage awards are usually very large. This isn’t because all malpractice suits are worth a lot of money though. It's actually because lesser cases are just not worth pursuing, so no one ever hears about them. These cases are almost never settled out of court, and the cost of taking them to court could be in the tens of thousands of dollars.
Lastly, never attempt to pursue a medical malpractice case alone. No matter what happens, you'll need the help of a medical malpractice attorney. And unless you're familiar with an attorney already, make sure you interview several before hiring one. There are, unfortunately, medical malpractice attorneys that will happily charge you for a case they know is hopeless. So, always get a second opinion.
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