Montgomery Medical Malpractice Lawyer

Medical malpractice is a serious issue that affects thousands of Americans every year. A study by the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences has estimated that nearly 100,000 patients may be killed annually in hospitals alone as a result of medical errors. Subsequent studies of small representative samples in New York and California have concluded that roughly 1% of all patients treated in these states have been injured due to medical negligence, and roughly one quarter of those died as a result of medical negligence. This brief overview of medical malpractice can help you decide whether you or a loved one has been a victim of medical negligence.

What is Medical Malpractice?
The term “medical malpractice” covers a wide range of problems, but the common theme is this: medical malpractice is professional negligence, which deviates from accepted standards of practice in the medical community, and causes injury or death to the patient.

What does this actually mean?

First, in order to qualify for medical malpractice, an act must be negligent, either by act or omission. This means that the act itself that caused the injury must be negligent, or a failure to act could also be negligent.

Second, medical malpractice deviates from accepted standards of practice in the medical community. An example of this might be if a doctor fails to subscribe the accepted treatment for a diagnosis, or if a hospital failed to sterilize the equipment.

Finally, the act must cause injury or death to the patient. Medical malpractice that results in no damages isn’t actionable in court. For example, if your doctor mixed up your routine checkup chart with another patient who was having medical problems and tried to schedule you for surgery, you’d only have a medical malpractice case if the surgery went forward.

If you caught the mistake and no surgery happened, no malpractice technically occurred. Medical malpractice can only occur if you got an incorrect or unnecessary treatment which caused some sort of injury, or failed to get treatment which caused an injury.

The personal injury attorneys at the Montgomery injury law firm, Wettermark & Keith LLC, are specialized in handling a wide range of cases including medical malpractice cases. If you have been injured or if you have lost a loved as a result of medical malpractice, contact an experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Montgomery for a free legal consultation.