Medical negligence is a legal term for a doctor’s willingness to deviate from the standard in his or her profession, and to harm a patient by doing so.
How must a plaintiff and lawyer prove a charge of medical negligence?
That plaintiff-lawyer team must show that the physician had performed an act that was not part of a standard procedure, or had failed to perform an act that had been acknowledged as part of the standard procedure. In addition, that same team must show that the doctor’s actions, of failure to carry out certain actions had caused harm to the patient/plaintiff.
Why would an expert’s testimony make it easier to produce both proofs?
Neither a jury nor a personal injury attorney would know all the details, concerning a given procedure. Doctors must devote time to reading medical journals, so that their familiarity with a test or operation includes those parts that have undergone some type of change.
Experts also read such journals. An expert could explain what should have been done, or what action should have been avoided. That is the reason that an expert’s testimony could help with producing the first of the 2 proofs.
In addition, a physician could explain the various reasons for development by a patient of a certain medical condition. A jury or Personal Injury Lawyer in St Thomas would not be able to produce such a list of reasons. A medical expert would share the skills of an experienced physician. That is why an expert’s testimony should be considered, during an effort to produce the 2nd of the two proofs.
Who could be charged with medical negligence?
Anyone in the medical field that has played some part in treating a patient could become a target of an allegation of medical negligence. That would include doctors, nurses, technicians, pharmacists, and staff members in a clinic. It is even possible that a hospital patient might choose to initiate a lawsuit against the hospital. That could be the result, if a hospital’s administrator had allowed an incompetent physician to remain on the staff.
For that reason, the presence of such a doctor would put everyone in the hospital at-risk. Of course, anyone that would try suing a hospital would face obvious challenges. Still, that fact would not bring much comfort to those that earned their living by striving to follow the hospital’s rules, and by working to make patients as comfortable as possible.
A facility that cared for elderly patients might also be charged with medical negligence. That care must continue, no matter what weather conditions might lead to a loss of electricity within that same facility. The person in charge must think ahead, and do so in a logical fashion.