How a Physicians Mistake Might Constitute Malpractice

There aren’t many professionals out there trusted more than those involved in the medical field. Unfortunately, negligent doctors sometimes make it seem as if this trust is misplaced. Luckily, a patient who has suffered medical malpractice is often eligible to receive compensation, but in some cases, these laws can get awfully murky. In fact, a physician’s mistake may not constitute medical malpractice whatsoever.

 Accepted Standards of Practice

 For medical malpractice to have occurred, four factors must be met.  The first two encompass the fact that a doctor or other healthcare professional must have made a mistake by not adhering to the accepted standards of practice in the medical field. This means that a certain behavior, whether an omission or negligent act, must have fallen below the accepted standards of practice.

 So essentially, even an act that harms an individual will not constitute medical malpractice if the doctor was simply doing what others in his field would have done. It should be pointed out, though, that a physician isn’t likely to admit this type of mistake. This makes it imperative for a person to speak with a medical malpractice attorney if they’re injured due to a physician’s mistake.

 State-Specific Laws

 Even when a doctor’s care falls below the accepted standard of care, and injured individual may not be able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit. This is due to varying state laws. In Maryland, for example, an individual has five years from the time of the doctor’s mistake to file a lawsuit. This number, however, drops to three years once a person discovers the mistake. On top of this, new medical malpractice laws are passed regularly, so anyone in this situation in the Old Line State would do well to speak with a Baltimore, Maryland medical malpractice attorney.

 No Injury Suffered

 Even in cases where a person is still within the statute of limitations and a doctor’s care fell below the accepted standard, there are still times when an injured patient may not be eligible for compensation. This is because the medical professional’s mistake must have led to some injury, and this encompasses the last two factors of a malpractice suit. If a doctor fails to diagnose a urinary tract infection, for instance, but this failure to diagnose led to no injury, then malpractice likely cannot be proven.

 So going back to the previous example, Baltimore, Maryland attorneys would need to know about an injury caused by a physician’s negligence as quickly as possible. This is because the three year statute begins once the mistake has been recognized. Quickly taking legal action, though, is essential regardless of where a person lives in America.

 Doctors go through more training than just about any other professional in the world, so there’s no excuse when mistakes are made. Unfortunately, a physician will likely not be held legally accountable for these mistakes until they actually harm someone, and this is a sad fact of the law. Fortunately, one’s case becomes much easier to prove when they have a legal professional on their side.