In order for a medical malpractice claim to have the potential to be successful, it must have three key components. These are: a failure to meet the standard of care, an injury that resulted from this failure, and significant damages to the patient’s physical and mental well-being.
Three Key Components of a Medical Malpractice Claim
Failure to meet the standard of care.
The first component of a medical malpractice claim is a failure to meet the standard of care. The standard of care is defined as what another professional health care provider would have done in the same situation. This standard is legally enforced. If a health care provider does not meet the standard of care in his or her treatment of a patient, he or she is considered to have committed medical negligence.
An injury that resulted from the failure to meet the standard of care.
A health care provider can fail to meet the standard of care without having committed medical malpractice. Medical negligence does not necessarily mean medical malpractice. Medical negligence must result in an injury to the patient in order for it to come under consideration for medical malpractice.
Significant damages to the patient’s physical and mental well-being.
The third key component of a medical malpractice claim is the damage that medical negligence causes to the patient. If the health care provider fails to meet the standard of care and injures the patient, this injury must be sufficiently severe and damaging to the patient’s physical and mental well-being in order for it to be considered medical malpractice.