Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare provider’s actions fall below the acceptable standard of care, causing harm to the patient. Many people mistakenly believe medical malpractice only occurs during surgery, but it can happen in any practice setting, including hospitals, clinics, and even private offices. The responsible parties can include physicians, nurses, medical technicians, and pharmacists, and can even extend to the healthcare facilities that employ them.

Proving a case of medical malpractice can be extremely challenging. The injured patient must navigate complex medical terminology in an unfamiliar court setting. Additionally, because the stakes are so high, medical malpractice claims are among the most vigorously contested types of civil lawsuits.

What Does the Patient Need to Prove to Establish Medical Malpractice?

To prove a claim of medical malpractice, the injured patient must prove the following four elements:

• Duty. The medical provider owed a duty of care to the patient. This is typically established by proving the existence of a provider-patient relationship. However, it can extend to individual providers a patient may not even realize played a role in their care, such as a radiologist who made an error in reviewing a film.
• Breach. The provider failed to meet their duty, meaning their actions or failure to act fell below the accepted standard of care for their profession.
• Causation. The provider’s mistake was the direct and proximate cause of harm to the patient. In other words, “but for” the provider’s negligence, the patient would not have been harmed.
• Damages. The patient suffered harm as a result, such as economic losses like medical bills and lost wages, as well as non-economic losses like pain and suffering.

How Is the Standard of Care Determined?

The standard of care in medical malpractice cases is the level of care a reasonably competent healthcare professional in the same specialty would have provided under similar circumstances. The standard is usually established through expert testimony from a practitioner in the same field, who reviews medical records and explains what a reasonably prudent provider would have done.

What Are Common Medical Malpractice Injuries?

Medical malpractice can occur in any healthcare setting where a provider’s negligence causes harm to a patient. The most common medical malpractice injuries fall into one of four categories.

Medication Errors

Medication errors include prescribing the wrong medication, prescribing the correct medication in the wrong dose, failing to check for allergies or drug interactions, or administering a drug to the wrong patient. The prescribing doctor, the nurse who administers the drug, the pharmacist, or the healthcare facility can all potentially be liable for medication errors that result in patient harm.

Surgical Errors

While no healthcare provider can guarantee a particular outcome, certain errors are so egregious that they are known within the medical field as “never events.” These mistakes are so egregious that they should never happen. They include operating on the wrong body part, performing the wrong procedure, leaving surgical implements or sponges inside the body, causing damage to adjacent organs, or failing to prevent post-operative infection. They also include anesthesia errors like administering the wrong dosage, failing to monitor a patient’s vital signs, or using defective equipment.

Birth Injuries

Birth injuries are a type of medical malpractice that occurs during pregnancy, labor, or delivery. They often arise from failure to monitor fetal distress, improper use of delivery tools, or delay in performing a C-section. These errors often lead to lifelong challenges such as Cerebral Palsy, Erb’s Palsy, paralysis, or brain damage.

Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose

Misdiagnosis and failure to diagnose occur when a healthcare provider fails to identify a serious medical condition like cancer, a stroke, or a heart infection. This can lead to treating the wrong condition, failure to treat the correct condition, and allowing the condition to progress to a more serious stage.

How an Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney Can Help

Ohio’s statute of limitations for medical malpractice claims is among the shortest in the country. You must file a claim for medical malpractice within one year from the date you learn of the injury or the date you last saw the negligent healthcare provider, whichever is later. Before filing, you will need to gather evidence to prove your claim, such as medical records, expert testimony, proof of your damages, and other relevant documentation.

In addition, you must include an Affidavit of Merit from a qualified medical professional stating that the case is not frivolous.

The medical malpractice attorneys at Robenalt Law have decades of combined experience representing injured patients and their families in medical malpractice cases. We understand how difficult these cases can be. We will answer your questions, explain and help you evaluate your options, and fight for the compensation you deserve. We handle medical malpractice cases on a contingency basis, which means you won’t owe us a fee unless we recover money for you.

Contact Robenalt Law Today

Robenalt Law has offices in Cleveland and Columbus, and handles medical malpractice claims throughout Ohio and nationwide. Call our Cleveland office at (216) 223-7535 or our Columbus office at (614) 695-3800 or contact us online to schedule a free, confidential, no-obligation appointment to discuss your situation and how we can help.