Home > Blog > Hiring an Attorney for a Medical Malpractice Case

Houston personal injury attorneys handle a variety of cases including medical malpractice. This is often a result of their clients being harmed by a physician, hospital, medical professional, nurse, or others in their failure to perform adequate medical care. In fact, the IOM (Institute of Medicine) indicates that nearly 100,000 individuals in the US die every year because of medical errors.[i]

The rules and laws concerning medical malpractice can be extensive, complex, and extremely complicated. However, there are basic rules that apply to nearly every type of case involving medical malpractice. It often requires the skills of a competent Houston personal injury lawyer to move the entire process through the court system to a successful remedy.

A Patient-Doctor Relationship

To be successful in a medical malpractice case, the competent attorney must prove that a relationship existed between the patient and the doctor. This means that there was a specific level of care that was required of the doctor in their effort to provide proper treatments and diagnosis of the patient. If the doctor simply provided poor or improper advice at a party, it is not a valid reason for a lawsuit.

Negligence of the Doctor

A part of medical malpractice is that there was direct negligence in the care and skill in providing treatment or diagnosis. The patient must have experienced some type of injury or harm due to the direct actions of the medical staff. This is determined by reason, and what should have been expected based on the particular case. In fact, the negligence involved must be a direct cause of the injury.

A competent Houston personal injury attorney can help the injured party receives compensation for their physical pain, along with mental and emotional anguish. Additionally, the attorney will fight for proper compensation that is due to their client, to cover additional medical bills, lost earnings capacity, and previously lost work.

Medical malpractice cases are complicated and require the skills of a highly experienced personal injury attorney to handle the case.

[i] http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/justice/hs.xsl/8677.htm

Other References:

http://www.justice.org/cps/rde/justice/hs.xsl/8677.htm