Most doctors provide commendable medical care to their patients. However, on occasion even a good doctor can fail to meet the standard of care expected of a doctor of his or her background, education, and training in a given community. In the event that a doctor fails to meet the accepted standard of care and this failure causes damage to the patient, a legal claim for medical negligence may be warranted.
Medical negligence (also commonly called medical malpractice) can take many forms including failed or delayed diagnosis of a condition, diagnostic errors, failure to obtain consent to treatment, patient identification mistakes, medication errors, failing to warn the patient of the risks of a particular treatment, careless surgical procedures, etc.
Medical negligence is actionable against most categories of health care workers including doctors, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, physiotherapists, among many others. Clearly, medical negligence is not a term restricted to doctors and may even include health care facilities such as hospitals and clinics.
Many people would find it shocking to learn that the medically accepted standards of care are seemingly very low in many instances. Medical care that seems unreasonably deficient to the public at large may, in fact, fall within the acceptable standard of the medical community. For example, the standard of care may be met in a case where an individual suffers a perforated bowel as a result of a routine colonoscopy... even if the damages are devastating. Simply because a surgery or medical procedure has gone wrong does not automatically mean that the doctor is legally liable for the damages. Not all errors or poor outcomes are the result of negligence.
Should you believe that you are a victim of medical negligence, it is advisable to meet with a lawyer immediately. There are time limitations that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If you fail to commence legal action against the negligent health care provider within the applicable time, you will lose your right to sue.
If you commence legal action for negligence against a doctor (or any health care provider), you will be required to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the doctor failed to meet the standard of care and that you suffered injury as a result of that failure. In order to establish such proof, you will need to rely on "medical experts" to provide an opinion with respect to the standard of care in your type of medical situation. The expert should also opine on whether the doctor's failure to meet the standard of care is the proximate cause of your damages.
It is often not until a medical expert reviews your case that you will learn conclusively whether you have been a victim of medical malpractice or merely a victim of unfortunate circumstances.
Medical error and related statistics are increasingly in the news. HealthGrades, a health care quality company, recently released a study based on the review of 37 million patient records. HealthGrades determined that an average of 195,000 people in the United States died due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors in each of 2000, 2001, and 2002.
In July 2006 the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released a report stating that medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year in the United States.The CMAJ, a leading Canadian medical journal, dated May 25, 2004 included a study by Baker, Norton, Flintoff et al entitled "The Canadian Adverse Events Study: The incidence of adverse events among hospital patients in Canada." In this study adverse events were defined as unintended injuries or complications resulting in death, disability or prolonged hospital stay that arise from health care management. This study reported that there was an overall incidence rate of adverse events of 7.5% in hospitals in Canada. This study suggests that, of the almost 2.5 million annual hospitalizations in Canada of the type studied, about 185 000 of these hospitalizations are associated with an adverse event and close to 70 000 of these are potentially preventable.
Medical negligence (also commonly called medical malpractice) can take many forms including failed or delayed diagnosis of a condition, diagnostic errors, failure to obtain consent to treatment, patient identification mistakes, medication errors, failing to warn the patient of the risks of a particular treatment, careless surgical procedures, etc.
Medical negligence is actionable against most categories of health care workers including doctors, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, physiotherapists, among many others. Clearly, medical negligence is not a term restricted to doctors and may even include health care facilities such as hospitals and clinics.
Many people would find it shocking to learn that the medically accepted standards of care are seemingly very low in many instances. Medical care that seems unreasonably deficient to the public at large may, in fact, fall within the acceptable standard of the medical community. For example, the standard of care may be met in a case where an individual suffers a perforated bowel as a result of a routine colonoscopy... even if the damages are devastating. Simply because a surgery or medical procedure has gone wrong does not automatically mean that the doctor is legally liable for the damages. Not all errors or poor outcomes are the result of negligence.
Should you believe that you are a victim of medical negligence, it is advisable to meet with a lawyer immediately. There are time limitations that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If you fail to commence legal action against the negligent health care provider within the applicable time, you will lose your right to sue.
If you commence legal action for negligence against a doctor (or any health care provider), you will be required to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the doctor failed to meet the standard of care and that you suffered injury as a result of that failure. In order to establish such proof, you will need to rely on "medical experts" to provide an opinion with respect to the standard of care in your type of medical situation. The expert should also opine on whether the doctor's failure to meet the standard of care is the proximate cause of your damages.
It is often not until a medical expert reviews your case that you will learn conclusively whether you have been a victim of medical malpractice or merely a victim of unfortunate circumstances.
Medical error and related statistics are increasingly in the news. HealthGrades, a health care quality company, recently released a study based on the review of 37 million patient records. HealthGrades determined that an average of 195,000 people in the United States died due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors in each of 2000, 2001, and 2002.
In July 2006 the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released a report stating that medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year in the United States.The CMAJ, a leading Canadian medical journal, dated May 25, 2004 included a study by Baker, Norton, Flintoff et al entitled "The Canadian Adverse Events Study: The incidence of adverse events among hospital patients in Canada." In this study adverse events were defined as unintended injuries or complications resulting in death, disability or prolonged hospital stay that arise from health care management. This study reported that there was an overall incidence rate of adverse events of 7.5% in hospitals in Canada. This study suggests that, of the almost 2.5 million annual hospitalizations in Canada of the type studied, about 185 000 of these hospitalizations are associated with an adverse event and close to 70 000 of these are potentially preventable.
Most doctors provide commendable medical care to their patients. However, on occasion even a good doctor can fail to meet the standard of care expected of a doctor of his or her background, education, and training in a given community. In the event that a doctor fails to meet the accepted standard of care and this failure causes damage to the patient, a legal claim for medical negligence may be warranted.
Medical negligence (also commonly called medical malpractice) can take many forms including failed or delayed diagnosis of a condition, diagnostic errors, failure to obtain consent to treatment, patient identification mistakes, medication errors, failing to warn the patient of the risks of a particular treatment, careless surgical procedures, etc.
Medical negligence is actionable against most categories of health care workers including doctors, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, physiotherapists, among many others. Clearly, medical negligence is not a term restricted to doctors and may even include health care facilities such as hospitals and clinics.
Many people would find it shocking to learn that the medically accepted standards of care are seemingly very low in many instances. Medical care that seems unreasonably deficient to the public at large may, in fact, fall within the acceptable standard of the medical community. For example, the standard of care may be met in a case where an individual suffers a perforated bowel as a result of a routine colonoscopy... even if the damages are devastating. Simply because a surgery or medical procedure has gone wrong does not automatically mean that the doctor is legally liable for the damages. Not all errors or poor outcomes are the result of negligence.
Should you believe that you are a victim of medical negligence, it is advisable to meet with a lawyer immediately. There are time limitations that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If you fail to commence legal action against the negligent health care provider within the applicable time, you will lose your right to sue.
If you commence legal action for negligence against a doctor (or any health care provider), you will be required to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the doctor failed to meet the standard of care and that you suffered injury as a result of that failure. In order to establish such proof, you will need to rely on "medical experts" to provide an opinion with respect to the standard of care in your type of medical situation. The expert should also opine on whether the doctor's failure to meet the standard of care is the proximate cause of your damages.
It is often not until a medical expert reviews your case that you will learn conclusively whether you have been a victim of medical malpractice or merely a victim of unfortunate circumstances.
Medical error and related statistics are increasingly in the news. HealthGrades, a health care quality company, recently released a study based on the review of 37 million patient records. HealthGrades determined that an average of 195,000 people in the United States died due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors in each of 2000, 2001, and 2002.
In July 2006 the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released a report stating that medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year in the United States.The CMAJ, a leading Canadian medical journal, dated May 25, 2004 included a study by Baker, Norton, Flintoff et al entitled "The Canadian Adverse Events Study: The incidence of adverse events among hospital patients in Canada." In this study adverse events were defined as unintended injuries or complications resulting in death, disability or prolonged hospital stay that arise from health care management. This study reported that there was an overall incidence rate of adverse events of 7.5% in hospitals in Canada. This study suggests that, of the almost 2.5 million annual hospitalizations in Canada of the type studied, about 185 000 of these hospitalizations are associated with an adverse event and close to 70 000 of these are potentially preventable.
Medical negligence (also commonly called medical malpractice) can take many forms including failed or delayed diagnosis of a condition, diagnostic errors, failure to obtain consent to treatment, patient identification mistakes, medication errors, failing to warn the patient of the risks of a particular treatment, careless surgical procedures, etc.
Medical negligence is actionable against most categories of health care workers including doctors, nurses, dentists, chiropractors, physiotherapists, among many others. Clearly, medical negligence is not a term restricted to doctors and may even include health care facilities such as hospitals and clinics.
Many people would find it shocking to learn that the medically accepted standards of care are seemingly very low in many instances. Medical care that seems unreasonably deficient to the public at large may, in fact, fall within the acceptable standard of the medical community. For example, the standard of care may be met in a case where an individual suffers a perforated bowel as a result of a routine colonoscopy... even if the damages are devastating. Simply because a surgery or medical procedure has gone wrong does not automatically mean that the doctor is legally liable for the damages. Not all errors or poor outcomes are the result of negligence.
Should you believe that you are a victim of medical negligence, it is advisable to meet with a lawyer immediately. There are time limitations that vary from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. If you fail to commence legal action against the negligent health care provider within the applicable time, you will lose your right to sue.
If you commence legal action for negligence against a doctor (or any health care provider), you will be required to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the doctor failed to meet the standard of care and that you suffered injury as a result of that failure. In order to establish such proof, you will need to rely on "medical experts" to provide an opinion with respect to the standard of care in your type of medical situation. The expert should also opine on whether the doctor's failure to meet the standard of care is the proximate cause of your damages.
It is often not until a medical expert reviews your case that you will learn conclusively whether you have been a victim of medical malpractice or merely a victim of unfortunate circumstances.
Medical error and related statistics are increasingly in the news. HealthGrades, a health care quality company, recently released a study based on the review of 37 million patient records. HealthGrades determined that an average of 195,000 people in the United States died due to potentially preventable, in-hospital medical errors in each of 2000, 2001, and 2002.
In July 2006 the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies released a report stating that medication errors are among the most common medical errors, harming at least 1.5 million people every year in the United States.The CMAJ, a leading Canadian medical journal, dated May 25, 2004 included a study by Baker, Norton, Flintoff et al entitled "The Canadian Adverse Events Study: The incidence of adverse events among hospital patients in Canada." In this study adverse events were defined as unintended injuries or complications resulting in death, disability or prolonged hospital stay that arise from health care management. This study reported that there was an overall incidence rate of adverse events of 7.5% in hospitals in Canada. This study suggests that, of the almost 2.5 million annual hospitalizations in Canada of the type studied, about 185 000 of these hospitalizations are associated with an adverse event and close to 70 000 of these are potentially preventable.
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