10 Best Attorney Client Satisfaction
Google verifed reviews
BBB - Acredited Business A+
Texas Trial Lawyers Association
AVVO Rating - James Michael Shaw 10.0

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is when a doctor or another medical professional - like a nurse or technician - does something or doesn't do something that causes an injury or some harm to you, the patient. The medical professional's act or failure to act (called an "omission") is called "medical negligence."

A medical malpractice case involves a mistake or error by a medical professional that damages or harms a patient.

Medical Negligence

The mistake or omission can happen at any time during medical treatment. For example, your doctor may make a mistake diagnosing your illness, or she may not give you the proper treatment or medication for that illness. The key here is the standard of care. This is the generally accepted method or methods used by other medical professionals in the area to treat or care for patients under the same or similar circumstances.

For example, if you're a 45-year-old business professional with asthma living in Texas, the standard of care your doctor must use is the standard other doctors in the Texas and surrounding areas use to diagnose and treat asthma in 45-year-old business professionals. This standard is different, of course, for 20-year-old athletes in Arizona, or a 70-year-old retired railroad workers in West Virginia. The standard changes depending on the patient's age and medical problem, and usually, where the patient lives.

If you can prove your doctor didn't follow or "breached" the standard of care for your particular medical problem, you've made a big first step in making a good medical malpractice claim.

A Required Finding of Injury and Damage

It's not enough that your doctor made some sort of mistake. Before you can file a lawsuit, you have to be able to show that the mistake caused you damage or further harm. The amputation of the wrong limb, brain damage after an operation, a medical condition or disease got worse after treatment, or even death are good examples of injuries or damage. In short, unless you've been harmed, there's no medical malpractice case.

You also have to prove that the injury is connected to the negligence. This is called "causation," meaning your damage or harm was caused by the doctor's mistake. This may be the most difficult - and expensive - part of any medical malpractice case. As a general rule, you'll need at least one expert witness to explain how the mistake caused your injury. These expert witnesses are almost always other doctors or medical professionals.

Experts are also used to help you show the standard of care that applies to your case and how your doctor breached that standard of care.

Client Reviews
★★★★★
We are very glad we called Carabin Shaw after our accident. We now recommend them to everyone. - Griselda S.
★★★★★
You want Carabin Shaw on your side after an accident. They were excellent. - Valerie S.
★★★★★
In our opinion, no one is better, Carabin Shaw is the Law Firm you want on your side after an accident. - Amanda G.
★★★★★
The attorneys and staff went out of their way to help us after our accident. Thank you Carabin Shaw. - Melinda F.
★★★★★
We did our research after our accident and chose Carabin Shaw. They were great. Highly recommend. Joel Y.
Tag