Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is an injury to the body caused by a failure to act appropriately on the part of a medical professional. The medical professional may be a technician, nurse, physician, or any other licensed medical professional.

Medical malpractice is a tort. A tort is an act, or failure to act, that deviates from an accepted norm. There are many torts: liable and slander, assault and battery, automobile negligence, intentional interference with advantageous relations, certain types of product liability, among many others. Medical malpractice is specialized tort.

Every tort must have four elements:

A Duty Owed and Breach of Duty Owed
By undertaking the care or treatment of a patient, a hospital or health care provider has a legal duty to that patient, to perform up to a standard of care.

A Breach or Deviation of the Duty Owed is Failure to Perform up to a Standard of Care

Proximate Cause of Injury
The breach of duty was a direct cause and the proximate cause of the injury, or the medical practitioner acted in a manner which was contrary (deviated) from the generally accepted standard of his/her profession.

An Injury/Damage
Regardless of whether the medical provider was negligent, without an actual injury or damage (pecuniary or emotional), there is no basis for a claim.

When evaluating medical malpractice an attorney must take special care to examine all four of these elements in detail. Should you or a loved one wish to discuss any question of medical malpractice, contact Hohauser Kuchon today. We have a registered nurse on staff, Mr. Hohauser has years of experience in the field, and we have many physician experts ready to discuss your case.