A number of factors go into determining if a doctor, hospital, long-term care facility or other member of a medical care team is guilty of medical malpractice. To be compensated for medical malpractice in Iowa City, IA, you will have to prove that you had a doctor-patient relationship with the medical provider, that the physician was negligent and that their negligence was responsible for your injury. Though the first point is typically easy to prove, the second and third factors of a medical malpractice case are usually more difficult.
To show that your doctor was negligent, you must prove that any other reasonable doctor would have recognized your symptoms as a sign of the undiagnosed condition and either treated you for that condition or ordered additional tests to confirm the preliminary diagnosis. Your attorney will likely have to hire an expert to testify that your doctor did not act in a reasonably skillful and careful manner regarding your diagnosis and treatment.
If you can successfully prove that your doctor or the medical facility was negligent in your care, you will also have to prove that your injuries were caused by the doctor’s negligence. Some cases of Medical malpractice in Iowa City IA fail to meet this requirement even when they meet the other two. Patients sometimes fail at meeting this criterion when they were already ill and they cannot prove that the negligence of the doctor made their condition any worse. This is sometimes the case when a patient dies after a doctor fails to diagnose an additional medical problem.
Medical experts are almost always necessary in malpractice lawsuits. An experienced lawyer is likely to have the resources necessary to find the most appropriate experts for your case. Whether you were the direct victim of medical malpractice or you lost a loved one due to the negligence of a physician or hospital, contact the Tom Riley Law Firm to find out if filing a lawsuit is the best course of action to hold the doctor or facility responsible. Doctors have a duty to care for their patients and when they fail to fulfill that obligation, malpractice laws can help a victim get compensated for their losses.
