Medical malpractice is a type of personal injury case that involves a healthcare professional’s negligence. While professional malpractice is always alarming, medical malpractice is especially frightening. Doctors, nurses, anesthesiologists, and EMTs abide by high standards of care. When professional negligence puts these standards at risks, it jeopardizes patients’ health and wellbeing.
When a health care professional makes a mistake, it raises a number of serious concerns about the impact of the error on a patient’s health. Innocent mistakes happen, but not every surgery gone wrong or medication error is the result of a health care professional’s appropriate care. In many cases, an injury or wrongful death is the result of negligence. If you or a loved one suffered due to a negligent health care professional, seek legal help from an experienced San Bernardino medical malpractice lawyer.
Do I Have a Medical Malpractice Injury Case?
There’s much more to a medical malpractice case than simply having evidence of a health care professional’s mistake. As soon as you suspect medical malpractice, contact a professional medical malpractice attorney in San Bernardino or your area to discuss your case and begin the investigative process. Medical malpractice cases are complex and require expert legal help.
Successful medical malpractice lawsuits require a plaintiff to prove the following:
- A doctor-patient relationship existed at the time of the incident
- There was a breach of the accepted medical standard of care
- This breach directly caused a patient’s harm, injury, or death
Breaches of accepted standards of care can encompass a variety of medical mistakes, including misdiagnosis, improper care, neglect, birth injuries, medication errors, and surgical errors. The plaintiff must use expert testimony to prove a breach was the result of a healthcare professional’s negligence. This can include failing to properly diagnose a condition, making careless prescription mistakes, or leaving a tool inside someone during surgery.
Can I Make a Hospital Negligence Injury Claim?
If you are getting treatment within a hospital, and one of the doctors or nurses causes injury to you or your loved one, you might be entitled to claim Hospital Negligence. Because the doctors, nurses and health care providers are all potentially employees of the hospital, the injured party has the right to sue the hospital directly for damages. If you feel that your injuries were due to negligence by a hospital employee, contact the expert Hospital Negligence attorneys in San Bernardino at Estey & Bomberger, LLP to get a fair and quick settlement.
Proving a Causal Relationship for Medical Malpractice
The most difficult (and most important) part of a medical malpractice case is proving causation. It’s not enough to prove a health care professional made a mistake or acted negligently. A plaintiff must prove that this negligence had a causal link to measurable harm. A victim has to show that were it not for a heath care professional’s error, the patient’s harm, injury, or death wouldn’t have happened.
For example, say a doctor prescribes the wrong medication to a patient. The patient’s condition neither improves nor worsens. In this case, even though the patient can prove the doctor was negligent during the prescription process, it isn’t considered medical malpractice. In any event, the patient has to suffer a measure of harm due to a doctor’s error to obtain compensation from the negligent hospital or doctor.
Contact Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorneys in San Bernardino
If you or a loved one experienced harm, injury, or wrongful death at the hands of a negligent health care professional, we extend our deepest condolences. We know how devastating a betrayal of trust in a doctor or nurse can be and how severely life changing a split second of negligence can be. If your condition worsened or you suffered physical or mental anguish or emotional trauma due to Medical Malpractice or Hospital Negligence, come to Estey & Bomberger, LLP for help.
Estey & Bomberger, LLP has experience handling medical malpractice lawsuits in San Bernardino County and throughout California. Medical malpractice cases can be complex due to the amount of investigation, medical record analysis, key witness interviews, and depositions required. When you work with the right personal injury firm, however, your medical malpractice lawyer takes care of everything for you. If you need to seek the legal counsel of an experienced law firm that’s won hundreds of millions of dollars in settlements, call 909-882-2016 or contact us online for a free case evaluation.
