Evaluating A Medical Negligence Case

December 30, 2016 | Crandall & Pera Law
Evaluating A Medical Negligence Case

When a client comes to me to have a medical negligence case evaluated, the first and most important thing is that they need answers. A lot of times people come for an evaluation and they’ve had a bad result, but they don’t know what happened. The care provider hasn’t told them what happened. So initially, I think the goal is to get records and I think provide an explanation to the family what happened.

They always ask me, well what is medical negligence? And it’s pretty simple; there’s an expected way care providers are supposed to act. That’s called the standard of care. If the care provider has acted below that, then they’re negligent. We both provide the answer and then give them the evaluation of whether there’s negligence or not.

Once you establish negligence, that’s not the end of the evaluation. You also have to prove causation and damages. The easiest way to look at causation is, did that bad care directly cause the injury? In most cases, it did, but we have to evaluate that question. And then lastly, for a malpractice case to be successful, there has to be significant damages. In order for a jury to react to your case, it has to be a case involving wrongful death, paralysis, brain injury, or the loss of a limb.

In a legal sense, negligence is a failure to use reasonable care that results in injury or damages to another. Simply put, reasonable care means that most people with the same qualifications would have acted a certain way in a given situation. When healthcare providers fail to provide a reasonable standard of care, the consequences are more serious than in other professions because healthcare providers care for people.

Establishing medical negligence isn’t as straightforward as it might seem. In some cases, like abdominal surgeries, a certain amount of risk is inherent in the procedure. In order for an action to be considered negligent, your healthcare provider must have committed a gross error or failed to adhere to established protocols before, during or after your surgery. Retaining experienced legal counsel after a botched procedure or diagnosis will help you get the answers you need as quickly as possible.

At Crandall & Pera Law, our experienced team of medical and legal professionals is uniquely suited to evaluate the circumstances of your case and to help you take the legal steps necessary to recover. If you believe that you or a loved one has been a victim of medical negligence, our Kentucky and Ohio medical malpractice and medical negligence lawyers can evaluate your case and help get you the compensation you need. For a free consultation, call us in Ohio at 877.686.8879, in Kentucky at 877.651.7764, or contact us today.