Malpractice Cases: Importance of a Medical Expert

Medical malpractice pertains to the professional negligence of a health care provider, such as doctors, therapists, and nurses, wherein it caused harm, injury, or death to the patient. Most medical malpractice cases involve a medical error in diagnosing the illness or misdiagnosis, providing wrong medication dosage, leaving things inside the patient's body during surgery, or operating on the wrong part of the body. In this context, the error happened because they did nothing about the situation (also referred to as an act of omission), or the error was likely due to negligence in their part.

For patients to receive compensation for their suffering, they need to seek advise from experts of medical malpractice laws. Majority of malpractice cases need medical expert testimony, and without it, the judge is likely to dismiss or decide the case early. The rationale behind this is that the courts have agreed that the technical information the jury must consider becomes too complicated to sort without the help of a medical expert. However, opinion of the expert is not always entirely accepted by the jury, rather it is used to consider the facts.

The rules of every state differ when it comes to who is qualified to give testimonies as a medical expert. If the case of the plaintiff involves malpractice within a specialized field, then you will need a specialist as your medical expert. The expert may be considered as a specialist through a combination of academic and practical experience, and even board certification.

Win Your Case by Getting a Medical Malpractice Expert Witness

An article in Medspace.com talked about the ambiguous qualification of a medical malpractice expert witness and it's effect on the stand of the defendant doctor. In a malpractice case, both the plaintiff and the defendant are required to present the substance of their expert witnesses' testimonies even before the trial starts. This will require them to present a witness with the same specialization they have. It's the witness' responsibility to give credible testimonies favorable to the issue being talked about. Medico-legal procedures are hard to deal with but can produce great results in the end. It's important that both parties respect the procedures and get credible witnesses for their cases. Consultants can strengthen your stand if you have a reliable one too. Consultants like Taylor Medical Consulting can help you look for a suitable witness to strengthen your statements.

http://www.taylormedicalconsulting.com/on-what-makes-the-best-medical-malpractice-expert-witness-for-a-case/

Getting a Witness in a Medical Malpractice Case

Before any healthcare professional begins his medical practice, he must swear by the Hippocratic Oath, which is widely believed to have been written by Hippocrates, the Father of Western Medicine. With this oath, all medical practitioners promise that they will provide quality medical treatment to their patients fairly and honesty, and swear to do no harm. Unfortunately, quality healthcare is not assured 100 percent of the time.

A doctor whose failure to perform quality treatment on a patient results in worsening of the latter's condition could find could be due to a number of different causes, including negligence. In U.S. medical history, perhaps one of the most prominent cases of medical malpractice involved a blood type O 17-year-old girl who underwent a heart and double-lung transplant from a blood type A donor—clearly it was a fatal mistake that could have been avoided had the medical practitioners done their job.

However, to establish that a doctor or physician had committed an error, it is important for the patient's loved ones to engage the services of a medical malpractice witness. A medical malpractice witness can provide technical information in the medical malpractice case that an ordinary lawyer cannot, no matter how hard he works. With valuable testimony from a medical expert, a judge is likely to dismiss the case.