Medical Malpractice
Quality medical care should be a guaranteed outcome when you consult a physician or undergo surgery or other hospitalizations, and the claim of medical malpractice is a grave accusation. To be considered medical malpractice, you must first consider two criteria:
1. Did the doctor practice medicine in a way that his or her peers would not have done or would not have considered the correct “standard of care?”
2. Did the patient suffer an outcome that left him/her with an injury that is lasting or at least substantial enough to pursue a claim?
Contrary to popular media, abuse does sometimes occur in the field of medicine, but it is not always possible to take it to court. Attorneys must work within what is called the “rules of evidence.” Not everything that happens is necessarily admissible in a court of law.
At Noel H. Benedict & Associates, we can analyze your potential medical malpractice case at no charge to you and advise you of your legal rights and options.
You may have been injured by a doctor, a nurse, or some other practitioner in what is normally the “helping” profession. Many patients who have been victimized may not have the money to pursue justice on their own. However, the injury must be substantial enough to support the monetary costs of pursuing a lawsuit. An astute attorney must also be a pragmatic business person, able to get a return on investment of time and money. Malpractice lawsuits, whether they are medical or legal malpractice (yes, lawyers get sued, too!), involve filing fees, court reporters’ charges, doctors’ depositions costs, objective experts’ opinions, as well as charges for medical records.
These expenses involved in filing a lawsuit and building a case can cost minimally several thousand dollars up to several million. Therefore, the attorney must be able to prove in a court of law that this malpractice occurred and must prove that the case has met the above standard in a court of law.