Causation
A medical professional may have been negligent in providing care to a patient,
but sometimes that negligence is not the cause of the injury suffered by a
patient. Because the law requires a connection between fault and injury, not all
instances of medical malpractice allow for an award of damages. Determining
causation in medical malpractice cases often is very complicated and usually
requires the assistance of expert witnesses.
Expert witnesses are usually required in medical malpractice cases to establish
the standard of medical care in the geographical area or in the area of medical
specialty at issue. In addition, expert testimony is required to establish that
the malpractice caused the patient's injuries, unless the cause is obvious to a
layperson, such as where a wrong arm is amputated or similar error.
In many cases, the cause of injury is less clear, and can be spread among many
health care providers. For example, a patient may be treated by a number of
doctors, nurses, and medical technicians in the course of a hospital stay.
Determining which of these practitioners may have been negligent, and how that
negligence may have caused a patient's injury, can be extremely complex. The
first doctor may have incorrectly diagnosed a patient, but a subsequent doctor
may have been negligent in failing to correct the diagnosis. A subsequent
series of mishaps in the operating room, each by a different technician, may
require naming each technician as a defendant because each mishap contributed to
the injury. Additional injury may have been caused by the use of a defective
medical device or drug, or the negligence of an operating room doctor. In such
cases, experts are needed to determine the cause of injury in light of the
unfortunate sequence of events.
If you or a loved one has been injured as a result of possible medical
malpractice, call Buchanan & Buchanan, P.L.C. now at (616) 458-2464 or Toll Free: (800) 272-4080
or CLICK HERE TO SUBMIT A SIMPLE
CASE FORM. The initial consultation is free of charge, and if we agree to
accept your case, we will work on a contingent fee basis, which means we get
paid for our services only if there is a monetary award or recovery of funds.
Don�t delay! You may have a valid claim and be entitled to compensation for your
injuries, but a lawsuit must be filed before the statute of limitations expires.
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