You’ve had a bad experience with a medical procedure that’s left you with semi- or permanent damage to your body. It’s affecting your quality of life and you’re unable to do things you were able to do before your procedure. Adding insult to injury is that you were promised that you wouldn’t lose function to any degree. You want to take legal action to recover damages and cover your economic losses. It’s an understandable desire, but do you have a case? This is where you need to talk with a medical malpractice law firm to find out the options that are available to you and if you can proceed with legal action.

 Understanding the Definition of Medical Malpractice

It’s not uncommon for people to think that they can sue a physician or surgeon for a perceived lapse in medical care. And it’s true that anyone has the option to sue for anything. But medical malpractice has strict definitions to prevent a physician from being sued by a patient who doesn’t agree with the diagnosis or the results of a procedure even though it was the best possible outcome. The physician has to willingly or consciously deviate from accepted norms in the medical field for that procedure or diagnosis in order for a lawsuit to proceed. This is something that a medical malpractice law firm can help determine through investigation of the circumstances that led to the poor outcome.

When a Case is Considered Medical Malpractice

A medical malpractice law firm takes on the roles of legal advocate and investigator. When someone comes to the law firm looking for advice, the lawyer has to determine if there’s a case at all. In order to do so, the lawyer asks questions of the client, looks at the medical records, and makes the decision as to the validity of the case. Some of the things the lawyer looks for is mistakes made by the physician or surgeon. Did the medical practitioner engage in practices that went outside the accepted standards? Or did something go wrong during the procedure despite observation of all protocols?

If the physician or surgeon made the decision to do something during a procedure that was never taught in a textbook or was standard practice, it’s most likely a case of medical malpractice. In the event that equipment failed during the procedure, it’s not malpractice, but the manufacturer of the equipment can be held liable. And if the physician followed all known and accepted standards yet the patient had a poor outcome, it’s not a strong case for malpractice. These and other reasons are why it’s important to talk to a medical malpractice law firm for advice when a medical procedure goes wrong.