Medical Malpractice: Difference Between Negligence and Gross Negligence
When a patient is harmed by the negligence of a medical professional, they may suffer for the rest of their lives. A medical malpractice lawyer can examine the aspects of your case to determine whether medical negligence or gross negligence has occurred, then identify the value of your claim and help you recover damages.
Medical Malpractice: Negligence
Medical negligence may have occurred if a medical practitioner failed to provide a reasonably expected standard of care in a particular set of circumstances that resulted in the injury or death of a patient.
The four elements needed to prove negligence in medical malpractice law are duty, breach, injury, and damages. A medical malpractice attorney must prove that each of these four elements exists to have a winning case.
Duty
A duty of care is owed to the patient once a doctor/patient relationship is established. The physician has a duty to act the way other doctors would act in a similar situation and must follow medical care guidelines broadly accepted in the medical community. A relationship is established when you provide medical information to the doctor’s office and verbally to the physician, followed by an examination.
Breach
If a doctor doesn’t follow his duty once the relationship and duty of care have been established; he is in breach of his duty.
Injury
An injury must have been sustained from the breach. Additionally, the medical malpractice lawyer must prove that the doctor’s action or in-action was the cause of the injury.
Damages
The victim must have suffered damages, either economic or non-economic, as a result of the injury. Obvious economic damages could be hospital bills or loss of wages due to time off of work. Non-economic damages may include emotional distress from loss of physical ability due to the injury.
Medical Malpractice: Gross Negligence
Gross negligence in the context of medical malpractice refers to conduct so reckless or dramatically wrong that it would be obvious even to someone without medical training.
A case involving gross negligence must prove the same four elements as a case involving medical negligence:
Duty
When a doctor/patient relationship is established through the assignment of a procedure, for example, the physician has a duty to perform his job in a reasonable and careful manner, as any other physician would under similar circumstances.
Breach
When a physician fails to perform his duty, a breach has occurred. For example, when a surgeon reads a chart hastily without evaluating a situation for himself and makes a huge error in treatment.
Injury
The breach must result in an egregious injury such as an accidentally amputated limb or a lack of treatment that causes serious infection leading to tissue damage.
Damages
The plaintiff must be able to show that she has suffered compensable damages. Damages for pain and suffering, mental anguish, and loss of current and future income are all things that can be compensable damages.
Note: Unsatisfactory results are not considered medical malpractice. Suffering an injury while under the care of a physician does not necessarily mean the patient has a case. The physician’s action or lack of action and breach of duty must be the direct cause of the injury for a successful medical malpractice suit.
These types of circumstances could result in the inability to prove medical malpractice:
- A patient fails to closely implement follow-up care instructions provided by the physician or his office.
- If a patient was clearly warned of the risk involved with the procedure and authorizes the procedure anyway.
Seek the help of a medical malpractice lawyer
If you were injured because of medical negligence or lost a loved one due to a preventable medical error, you have enough to deal with. Let an experienced medical malpractice attorney fight for justice on your behalf. It is not uncommon to receive a settlement from the insurance company that is five to ten times larger with the help of a medical negligence lawyer. Call the most experienced practicing medical malpractice attorneys Bellingham has at Tario & Associates, P.S. today for a FREE consultation! We have been representing people injured by medical negligence in Whatcom County, Skagit County, Island County and Snohomish County since 1979. You will pay nothing up front and no attorney fees at all unless we recover damages for you!
