Where Does the Blame Lie for Medical Malpractice?

A lot of people think they can only sue doctors for medical malpractice. This is not the case. Medical malpractice attorneys can sue anyone who is liable under the laws that govern a healthcare provider's obligations to their patients. There are some facts about these cases that have to be true, however, before you can file a lawsuit.

What has to have happened?

You have to have been harmed by the healthcare provider's negligence. This may be a dentist who incompetently did an oral surgery that required a great deal of reconstruction to fix, a nurse that failed to provide proper care after a surgery, a physician's assistant who rendered the wrong treatment or even the healthcare facility itself. There are very specific laws that determine what a doctor or other healthcare provider is required to do for their patients and, when they fail to do those things, a lawsuit may be an option.

What if they missed something?

If you weren't diagnosed with a condition that got worse and caused you more suffering than should have been the case, you may have an option to sue. This could be a case where a doctor missed the fact that you'd developed diabetes despite the fact that the symptoms were apparent or a dentist that failed to notice that you had developed a cancer in your mouth that got worse because it wasn't noticed.

Wrong treatments.

Sometimes, a doctor will have to experiment with many different treatments for a condition before they find the right one. This is a part of scientific medicine, which is part experimentation by its very nature. When they specifically order a treatment that does no good or that does outright harm to their patient, however, that patient may well have an option to file a lawsuit.

Where do I turn?

You turn to an attorney. They're the professionals you need to determine whether or not your case has a chance of winning in court. If it does, they might take you on under a contingency agreement. This means that you don't have to pay them unless you get a jury award or a settlement. It's the best way to make sure that you don’t get stuck with legal fees over a losing case and to make sure that the attorney actually believes that the case you're filing has merit to it. You can meet with these attorneys for a free consultation.