Have you recently received treatment for an illness or injury? Did your condition significantly worsen after the treatment, or did new conditions develop? You may have been a victim of medical malpractice. So what do you do now? In this blog, we’ll talk about what constitutes medical malpractice, and what to do if you believe you have been a victim.
What is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice in Maryland occurs when a health care provider’s medical negligence results in a serious and life-changing injury to the patient. This can occur in a number of health care settings, but most frequently occurs in hospitals. It may occur in an emergency room when, as a result of the hectic activity common to emergency room’s, an injured person does not receive the correct treatment, resulting in injury. It may occur in labor and delivery, resulting in what’s known as a birth injury. It may occur in surgery, when a surgeon’s mistake results in injury. These are just a few examples of medical malpractice
The Components of Medical Malpractice
There are several components that must be present in a medical malpractice claim.
- The health care provider must not meet the standard of care for treatment. This is called medical negligence.
- This medical negligence must result in an injury.
- The injury must have a serious and negative impact of the quality of life of the patient.
What is the Standard of Care?
The standard of care is the standard that health care providers are held to when treating patients. If a reasonable health care professional would provide X treatment in Y situation, then this is defined as the standard of care. If the provider does not provide X treatment, then the standard of care is not met. If this medical negligence results in a serious injury to the patient, the patient may be able to claim medical malpractice.