Medical malpractice, these days, is of great importance and has opened a brand new field in litigation. Errors committed by any medical practitioner in course of a treatment or operation which may result in the death/physical damage of the patient will entitle such patient compensation/damages from the concerned doctor/authority. This process also involves questions of law and medicine, to be answered and determined during the course of trial.
Failure of a health care provider to treat and care for a patient with a reasonable degree of skill and care would amount to medical negligence. There may be a medical malpractice lawsuit if a doctor was careless, lacked proper skills or disregarded established rules of the hospital. In order to bring a claim of medical negligence compensation, the claimant through a medical malpractice attorney must meet the following requirements set out by the House of Lords:
• The defendant owed the claimant a duty of care;
• The defendant broke that duty of care; and
• The defendant’s breach of duty caused the damage to the claimant.
It is a settled proposition of medical malpractice lawsuits that legal claims for compensation must be settled or legal proceedings must be issued within three years of the event which caused the injury failing which any legal action for compensation would be barred.
