Making a difference in the event of medical malpractice
At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we practice personal injury law with an emphasis on catastrophic medical malpractice cases. Right off the bat, without question, we want to make it clear that we have profound respect for the medical profession.
That being said, medical errors are the third leading cause of death in the United States.
Medical Malpractice Statistics
Johns Hopkins reports that more than 250,000 people die in the US every year from medical errors, and many report that the amount of deaths due to medical errors is closer to 500,000. And these numbers are only take into account medical errors that caused deaths.
If the total number of malpractice cases were tallied, we’re talking about an absolutely mind boggling medical error rate. It’s important to keep in mind that not all medical errors are going to be actionable.
This is due to many factors, including, but not limited to:
- cost of litigation exceeding recovery,
- medical gray areas,
- deminimus injuries from medical errors
At Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys, we continue to manage cases where doctors in the same field as the offending practitioner express shock and concern over the medical errors that have occurred. One fact that most people do not know is that there is a lot of gray area when it comes to the practice of medicine.
This is partially because every year the medical journals and societies attempt to water down the standard of care to essentially change the goal line for medical malpractice cases. The more nebulous the standard of care, the more that defense lawyers and offending physicians can obfuscate the true nature of the breach of the standard of care.
Fighting For Your Breach Of Standard Care
Doctors and healthcare providers s defend almost every medical malpractice case by arguing that the injury is a “known consequence.” Usually hospitals and physicians have patients sign “informed consent” paperwork before undergoing a procedure. The informed consent documents say all sorts of things, and some of them are quite absurd, e.g. death is a known consequence.
The medical industry uses this bag of tricks. Nobody would willingly submit to a breach of the standard of care. Yet, these documents, essentially, say: we are not liable in the event of a breach of the standard of care.
Doctors usually must avoid cutting or dividing anatomy that should be protected as part of the standard of care. And it usually includes protecting patients from unnecessary harm. Another complication unique to medical malpractice cases, giving way to gray areas, is that doctors are the only ones that are performing the procedure.
Frequently, it’s hard to figure out what the offending doctor did. This is a problem endemic to other industries. For example, unscrupulous auto mechanics might suggest an unnecessary repair. Or that same auto mechanic might make a mistake during a repair, and because they are the only person who knows what happened, they might not be transparent about the error.
Finally, this same unscrupulous mechanic might not be aware that they committed a terrible error, but down the line, the car owner will surely experience the consequences.
We must rely on subsequent treaters to diagnose the injury. And it is extremely common for doctors who commit medical errors to obfuscate the true nature of their offense. Further, it is extremely common for subsequent treaters to obfuscate the nature of the error.
How Zayed Law Offices Personal Injury Attorneys Can Help
Our team often investigates cases where our client didn’t truly know what happened to them for months or years. Frequently doctors will never truly tell the patient the nature of their error.
This is why skill, experience, resources and tenacity are necessary characteristics for a medical malpractice attorney. Everything is a fight. In cases of blatant care standard breaches, doctors and lawyers can use gray areas to obscure wrongdoing.
To successfully litigate a medical malpractice case, you must demonstrate conviction. This involves a thorough investigation, including medical record review and relevant literature study, among other essential actions. In an effort create transparency concerning our medical malpractice review process, we have created the attached infographic.
The standard of care requires doctors not to cut or divide anatomy that should be protected. And it usually includes protecting patients from unnecessary harm.
Another complication unique to medical malpractice cases, giving way to gray areas, is that doctors are the only ones that are performing the procedure. Frequently, it’s hard to figure out what the offending doctor did. This is a problem endemic to other industries. For example, unscrupulous auto mechanics might suggest an unnecessary repair.
Or that same auto mechanic might make a mistake during a repair, and because they are the only person who knows what happened, they might not be transparent about the error. Finally, this same unscrupulous mechanic might not be aware that they committed a terrible error, but down the line, the car owner will surely experience the consequences.
We must rely on subsequent treaters to diagnose the injury. And it is extremely common for doctors who commit medical errors to obfuscate the true nature of their offense. Further, it is extremely common for subsequent treaters to obfuscate the nature of the error.
We frequently investigate cases where our client didn’t truly know what happened to them for months or years. Frequently doctors will never truly tell the patient the nature of their error. This is why skill, experience, resources and tenacity are necessary characteristics for a medical malpractice attorney. Everything is a fight.
And what is most insidious is that in situations where an obvious, almost laughable breach of the standard of care has taken place, there is enough gray area for the offending doctor and their attorneys to obfuscate.
To litigate a medical malpractice case effectively, you must possess conviction. You need to conduct a comprehensive investigation and evaluation, which includes reviewing medical records and relevant medical literature, among other tasks. In an effort create transparency concerning our medical malpractice review process, we have created the attached infographic.
