According to the National Practitioner Data Bank's annual report for 2006, the average amount awarded that year in medical malpractice claims against physicians in the United States was $311,965. Such figures are one reason why patient safety, the prevention of medical errors and the avoidance of medical malpractice lawsuits are urgent issues in the health care field.
Significance
Medical malpractice consists of negligence on the part of a health care professional, whether the person functions as a doctor, nurse, resident or other caregiver in a medical environment. Negligence can occur when a health care provider doesn't perform at a level considered standard for the industry or fails to perform at all. Either way, if the behavior or lack of action results in patient injury or death, the professional could become the subject of a medical malpractice claim.
Types
Numerous kinds of perceived negligence can lead to charges of medical malpractice. Claims often involve alleged drug errors, such as prescribing the wrong type or amount of medicine; diagnostic mistakes, such as misdiagnosing a medical condition or not diagnosing it at all; treatment disputes, including providing inappropriate treatment for a medical problem or waiting an unreasonable amount of time before initiating treatment; surgical complications, such as leaving medical apparatuses inside a patient or removing the incorrect organ; equipment problems, such as non-working defibrillators.
Civil Litigation
Traditionally, medical malpractice lawsuits are brought in civil court, where a plaintiff seeks monetary damages for bodily injury allegedly resulting from the negligent delivery of medical services by the defendant. The target of the litigation can be an individual health care professional, a group of professionals or an entity, such as a hospital.
Criminal Litigation
In the case of gross negligence, where a health care professional or entity is accused of behaving in an extremely inappropriate manner that suggests intentional infliction of harm, medical malpractice lawsuits are frequently filed in criminal court. The state chooses to sue the defendant under those circumstances in order to seek a punishment of imprisonment as opposed to just the financial penalty incurred in civil court. It's also possible for the same medical malpractice matter to be tried in both courts.
Considerations
Individuals who file a medical malpractice lawsuit must prove that the target of the legal action had a responsibility to treat the patient, that the health care provider failed to fulfill that obligation at a standard level for the industry, that the patient was injured due to the provider's substandard care and that the injury resulted in some form of loss that requires monetary damages to be paid. To adequately demonstrate all four things, potential plaintiffs should consult an attorney with substantial medical malpractice experience, preferably in the medical specialty of the accused.
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