Although regulations and standards could vary by state, medical malpractice laws in Louisiana and elsewhere entitle patients to seek recovery of damages caused by harm suffered due to substandard medical treatment. The harm could involve medical errors in diagnosis, treatment, health management, medication dosage or aftercare. Claims could also result from the failure to provide the right treatment or take appropriate action.
Health care professionals, doctors and hospitals are held to specific standards of care, but they not necessarily responsible for all harm or negative outcomes patients experience. The plaintiff must prove negligence, omission or error.
The following factors must be present:
- Failure to provide the accepted standard of care.
- No claim can be made if no injury or harm resulted.
- Plaintiffs must prove that harm or injury would not have occurred had the care provider not been negligent.
- Proof of significant damage caused by medical negligence is necessary.
The following could constitute considerable harm:
- Disability
- Enduring hardship
- Suffering
- Constant pain
- Considerable income loss
Negligence could include situations in which the medical care provider failed to take the necessary action, which means that an act of omission could give grounds for medical negligence claims.
Elements required to show negligence:
When a health care professional is accused of negligence in rendering care that ultimately caused considerable harm, the following must be established:
- The care provider owed the patient a professional duty.
- That duty was breached.
- The breach of the duty caused an injury.
- The patient suffered monetary damages.
Those in Louisiana who have suffered these consequences may be entitled to file medical malpractice claims in a civil court. If such a case is successfully presented, a monetary judgment might cover documented financial and other damages.
