Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice claims occur when a medical professional provides negligent care and it causes an injury to the patient.  These injuries can be caused by doctors, nurses, chiropractors, podiatrists, therapists, or even hospitals and facilities themselves.  Poor outcomes do not necessarily mean that there was malpractice, but to prevail it must be shown that the provider did something that a reasonably careful provider would not have done under the same or similar circumstances. 

At the very heart of it, a medical malpractice claim is like any other claim for negligent conduct. The injured party must prove that the responsible party was negligent and that negligent conduct caused an injury.  With a motor vehicle accident, we can typically rely on the motor vehicle code or the rules of the road to determine when the at fault party was negligent.  With a medical malpractice claim, there is no similar set of laws to establish what a reasonably careful provider would do.  The injured party must establish through medical expert opinions and testimony what a reasonably careful provider would do.  

In order to even be able to file a lawsuit against a doctor or hospital, a qualified physician must review the facts and medical records and give written opinions that the provider was in fact negligent in his care and treatment of the patient.  This is a built in security for physicians that they will not be the subject of so-called frivolous lawsuits.

Most doctors carry malpractice insurance that says that if the doctor refuses to settle the case against him, the insurance company cannot settle it.  For this reason, many more medical malpractice cases proceed to trial than other types of cases.  The attorneys at Adeszko Abate & Green know this and therefore every medical malpractice case they take, they assume that the case will ultimately proceed to trial.  This helps them to put together a roadmap to prosecute and win the case from day one.  If you or a loved one has been the victim of medical malpractice that has caused a catastrophic injury or death, contact Adeszko Abate & Green to help evaluate your case.