Compensation In Medical Malpractice Cases

Generally speaking, medical malpractice cases typically arise when an individual has been harmed by a doctor’s or healthcare professional’s actions or inactions. In Canada alone, there are roughly 70,000 personal injury claims for medical malpractice recorded on an annual basis. Consequently, it’s important for you to understand how a medical malpractice claim works and know what your rights as a patient are.

Medical Malpractice can take many Forms

Medical malpractice refers to a situation wherein a doctor’s or healthcare professional’s careless or negligent behavior has caused injuries to a patient. However, a person can also be injured by the inaction of medical professionals. Personal Injury Lawyer in Waterloo gives some common examples of medical malpractice include:

• diagnostic errors or improperly diagnosing a patient’s condition
• discharging a patient prematurely
• failing to prescribe medications
• failure to take a patient’s medical history into consideration
• interpreting diagnostic tests and lab results improperly
• not ordering appropriate or relevant lab tests
• prescription medication or dosage errors
• surgical errors or performing the wrong surgical procedure

Medical malpractice claims are commonly based on negligent medical care including diagnostic or treatment mistakes and omissions. Another form of medical malpractice applies when a physician or healthcare professional fails to get the patient’s informed consent for treatment. The third form of medical malpractice is based on a hospital’s or physician’s failure or refusal to provide care and treatment because of discriminatory reasons such as ethnicity, gender, etc.

Doctor Negligence may notapply

Although a doctor can do everything properly, he or she cannot cure every patient, nor does a doctor’s mistake(s) mean that he or she is guilty of medical malpractice. A personal injury lawyer must prove that the doctor’s actions caused or contributed to a patient’s injury or their condition getting worse. They work with a host of professionals including doctors and medical care staff to know and understand where the issues are and how to take the claim to culmination.

Recoverable Damages in Medical Malpractice Cases

If you have sustained injuries or a loved one has perished due to medical malpractice, you could be entitled to damages. This could include lost income, medical expenses, pain and suffering, etc. Recent legislation has placed a limit on the amount of damages or compensation that an injury victim can recover in a medical malpractice lawsuit. For more information regarding claims for medical malpractice, you should call a personal injury lawyer. Not only will they help you judge the merits of the claim but if it is viable, they would be interested in representing the claim. And the best aspect is that most injury lawyers work on contingency basis, so you don’t have to pay them upfront but a fixed percentage of the awarded compensation that you will win.