A person harmed by the negligent actions or omissions of a doctor or another medical professional must prove certain elements to win a medical malpractice suit. These elements vary depending on where the malpractice took place.
Elements of a medical malpractice suit
The Alabama Medical Liability Act (AMLA) determines the elements that an injured individual must prove to win this type of lawsuit, which include:
- Standard of care: this is a prevalent term in the medical malpractice area. It refers to the duty that a medical professional owes to their patient in all treatments and health-care activities. Standards of care may vary state by state and sometimes within a state.
- Negligent act or omission: There must be a claim that the medical professional deviated from the standard of care.
- Causation: there must be a negligent act or omission which is the proximate cause of the injury caused to the patient. In other words, a causal link between the two.
- The patient must have suffered damages due to the medical professional’s negligent act or omission.
- Generally, expert testimony is also required. Expert testimony, typically, is the kind of testimony from a medical expert who can testify on the technical and complex issues of the medical part of the case.
Usually, attorneys are the ones who, through questionnaires, interactions with their clients and discovery, gather as much information as possible to make a case for their clients.
Medical malpractice cases can be complicated. These cases often involve many parties. In addition to the patient and medical professional, other parties are usually involved, such as hospital personnel and insurance companies. It is imperative for people whom a medical professional has injured to document as much information as they can to strengthen their case.
