Medical malpractice is a very serious issue and can cause a great amount of injury and trauma to anyone who has experienced it. Before attempting to hire a medical malpractice lawyer in Pittsburgh, PA, here are some things to know so preparation can be made in advance.
Show Relationship
To sue a doctor or other medical professional for malpractice, it first needs to be established there was a relationship between the plaintiff and the defendant. The doctor has to have seen the person as a patient in an actual hospital or clinic setting, not just as a casual encounter such as advice given at a cocktail party. This relationship can be easily proven by presenting such things as hospital intake forms, prescriptions written by the doctor, or by insurance billing statements.
Prove Negligence
Medical malpractice is defined as being victim to a negligent standard of care. This does not mean simply that the patient did not like the care the doctor gave them. Such a thing would be far too subjective and would have no legal merit. Instead, the lawsuit must show the doctor gave a level of care which would be considered below what his or her peers would have given under the same set of circumstance. To prove this, a medical malpractice lawyer in Pittsburgh, PA may call in medical experts to state their case.
State Injury
To prove negligent care, it must also be shown the patient was injured somehow during the medical process. This can be done by showing a healthy person became sick after receiving care from the doctor. If the patient was already sick, it becomes substantially harder to prove this but certainly not impossible. Again, the attorney will more than likely bring in medical experts to testify on behalf of the plaintiff to show they were unjustly injured from the behavior of the doctor.
Click here for a consultation and discuss with an attorney if the injuries sustained would qualify as medical malpractice. They will give the best advice they can and, if there is sufficient evidence, may take on the case.