Thankfully the issue of medical malpractice is not something that happens a great deal, owing to the high level professionalism of our doctors and nurses. With this being said, there are still cases which occur and that is why legal experts like David Cates and his team are still required, to support claims and cases. For the most part those who believe that they have been a victim of medical malpractice have indeed not, yet this is a common misconception which is made.
A legal case regarding medical malpractice is a very serious one and that is why it is so complex. The results of a medical malpractice suit could be that a doctor or healthcare professional is struck off, loses their license or could even face criminal charges. This is why it is so critical that any guilty verdict is proven beyond any reasonable doubt. Here is why this is such a complex branch of the law.
Mistakes Happening
In the eyes of the public, or the affected patient and their family, it is considered that if a mistake is made in the medical field then this constitutes as medical malpractice, yet this is simply not the case. Doctors, surgeons and nurses do incredible things and they have outstanding levels of knowledge. With this being said however they do not know everything about the human body and there are treatment options which are taken that may prove to be wrong. The medical world has a certain set of protocols which must be followed when deciding on treatment. Whether the outcome is good or bad is irrelevant as long as those protocols have been correctly followed. This is why a mistake is not the same as malpractice.
Claim Culture
One of the most frustrating reasons why these things are more difficult than they need to be is because there are so many fraudulent claims. This has come from a claim culture which has existed for a number of years which we are thankfully beginning to get rid of. Nonetheless the ramifications from so many people making claims which were untrue, haas resulted in more and more red tape and protocols being put in place to avoid it happening in the future. There is no doubt that this claim culture has caused serious issues for those who have real and genuine claims.
Obvious Cases
There are of course some obvious cases which are easy to prove regarding medical malpractice. An instrument left inside the body, the wrong surgery being performed or perhaps even a surgeon who is under the influence at the time of the procedure. These are cut and dry cases, but they too require a deeper look at what happened and why.
This is exactly why a case like medical malpractice can be so difficult to cut through and why those legal professionals within this field have to work so hard in trying to be successful in a case.