If a medical provider’s negligence caused you to sustain injuries, you may be able to hold them financially liable through a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Medical negligence refers to a healthcare provider’s failure to uphold the standard of care they are legally required to provide to patients, resulting in injury. However, demonstrating that medical negligence occurred can be difficult and involves proving four key factors: The medical provider owed you a duty of care, they breached that duty, their breach caused your injuries, and your injuries resulted in actual losses and a right to damages.
Proving a Duty of Care
A duty of care is a legal requirement for an individual or organization to protect those in their care from harm. All medical providers have an inherent duty of care toward their patients, so proving this first element of a medical malpractice claim is often the easiest part.
To prove that the provider who injured you owed you a duty of care, we simply have to show that you were their patient. We can do this by providing a contract you signed before a medical procedure or a bill you received for the procedure.
Examples of medical providers who may owe you a duty of care include:
- Doctors
- Nurses
- Surgeons
- Physical therapists
- Anesthesiologists
- Dentists
- Pharmacists
- Hospitals
- Urgent care facilities
- Pharmacies
Proving a Breach of Duty
Proving that a medical provider breached their duty of care can be the most challenging part of a medical malpractice case. This is because not every injury caused by a medical provider results from a breach of duty.
For example, many medical treatments or surgeries have the potential to go wrong even if the doctor does everything right. Likewise, medications have adverse side effects that may harm some individuals. In these cases, a breach of duty may not have occurred.
A breach of duty means the medical provider deviated from the expected treatment a reasonable provider would have administered. To prove this is the case, Rhode Island courts generally require expert testimony from another qualified medical professional to support your claim.
Proving Causation
After proving that the medical provider breached their duty of care, you must then prove that their breach caused your injuries. The medical provider or their insurer may try to claim that your injuries are unrelated to the breach or that they were pre-existing. However, a skilled medical malpractice lawyer can gather evidence that shows how the breach directly led to your injuries.
This evidence may include further testimony from medical professionals, eyewitness statements from supporting medical staff present during your treatment, statements from your family or friends about your condition before and after the procedure, photographs of your visible injuries, and notes found within your medical records.
Proving Damages
Finally, you must prove that your injuries led to losses entitling you to damages. Damages are the compensation sought for losses, which are the negative consequences of an injury.
For example, if your doctor failed to diagnose a serious illness and the illness worsened because you didn’t receive timely medical intervention as a result, you may have suffered losses. These losses could include the cost of medical treatment for your worsened condition and the emotional distress you experienced because of the ordeal.
Or, if a pharmacist gave you the wrong medication that caused you to require emergency care, you could seek compensation for the emergency treatment costs you incurred.
Contact Our Rhode Island Medical Malpractice Attorneys
If you believe you were the victim of medical malpractice in Rhode Island, contact DeLuca, Weizenbaum, Barry & Revens, Ltd., for a free consultation with a knowledgeable and experienced injury attorney. During your initial consultation, we’ll review your case and walk you through how we can help you seek compensation for your injury caused by medical negligence.