“Medical malpractice” is a broad term used to describe a number of different kinds of lawsuits brought against doctors and hospitals. Malpractice can be the failure to properly diagnose a problem, the failure to provide the correct treatment, the failure to provide the treatment in the correct way, and even errors in prescribing medications.

Studies have shown that somewhere between 50,000 and 100,000 people die every year because of mistakes made by their doctors. Some of these deaths could support a lawsuit for medical malpractice. In a general sense, a medical malpractice suit claims that a doctor made a mistake, and that this mistake resulted in his patient’s not getting the level of care that he has the right to receive from a doctor. Although only the sensational cases tend to make the news, the number of different kinds of medical malpractice suits is limited only by the number of different kinds of mistakes doctors may make.

A medical malpractice suit usually must be brought within a specific period of time. However, the complexity of these suits, and the danger that evidence will disappear and memories will fade, makes it advisable to begin long before the legal deadline occurs. Despite appearing to be very straightforward, medical malpractice cases can often be difficult to prove, for several reasons.

First, many medical malpractice cases are never recognized as such because it is difficult for non doctors to know when a doctor has made a mistake. For every case where the doctor clearly does something wrong (such as amputating the wrong leg or leaving a scalpel in a patient) there are dozens of cases where the doctor’s error is much less obvious.

Second, the complexity of modern medicine means that proof of malpractice usually requires expert medical or scientific testimony from other doctors, testimony that is difficult for ordinary people to understand.

Finally, because the deceased was often already very sick, it is sometimes difficult to prove that the death was caused by the doctor’s mistake rather than by the original illness.

In many malpractice cases, all of the medical experts will agree that the defendant doctor made some mistake, and that this mistake likely was the cause of the injury or death. These cases are frequently settled before going to trial. In other cases, juries believe that a mistake occurred, and they award the plaintiff a substantial sum of money against the doctor.

Health care in our country is considered to be top notch. Although many in the health care profession would be reluctant to admit it, one of the reasons for quality health care is because of medical malpractice lawsuits. The attention focused on the medical profession as a result of malpractice claims has helped to expose shortcomings that would otherwise go uncorrected. And that benefits all of us . . . patients and health care professionals.

If you suspect that you or someone you love has been injured by a doctor’s mistake, call us. We can help, and your lawsuit might just save someone else.