Seeking medical care from a reliable, empathetic, and competent doctor is essential to looking after yourself. Whether you’re getting life-saving surgery or receiving preventative treatment, it is the difference between living a comfortable life and constantly combatting pain. However, some medical professionals are less scrupulous than others, resulting in harm or injury during treatment. If this has happened to you or a loved one, it is crucial to know your options, especially when your life is at risk.
When this happens, you may file a medical malpractice or negligence lawsuit. Understanding the difference between the two can help you build a stronger case and have the judge rule in favor of you, especially when working with a seasoned lawyer. Although the two seem the same, they have key differences that impact your case’s structure and how you respond to the facts when seeking compensation from the defendants. Since medical care is an incredibly technical field filled with fast-paced, high-pressure situations, it may be challenging to present your case. Here’s what you need to know about the differences between medical malpractice and negligence:
The Standard of Care
When you seek treatment from a medical professional, you have reasonable expectations about the standard of care you’d receive. You expect them to conform to professional standards, regulations, and rules when subjecting you to examinations and tests to diagnose and treat you properly.
Several rules are laid out at the federal and state levels, along with those instituted by boards of medicine and pharmacy, to certify that professionals stick to lawful, ethical procedures. Individual hospital districts also implement standard operating procedures to ensure that the professionals they hire deliver top-tier healthcare.
Violating the Standard of Care
The difference between medical malpractice and negligence is how the medical practitioner violates the standard of care. Given the complex environment, mistakes are bound to happen, although they can result in injury or death in a healthcare setting. In a medical negligence case, the practitioner makes a mistake that unintentionally violates the standard of care, injuring the patient.
On the other hand, a medical malpractice case is a graver offense, where the practitioner deliberately and consciously failed to uphold the standard of care, harming the patient. It’s important to note that this does not mean they maliciously behaved to hurt the patient, but they should have known that their actions put their patient at increased risk.
Damages in Medical Malpractice and Negligence Cases
When you’re working on building a personal injury case with your lawyer, you’ll want to make sure that you’re asking for sufficient compensation to cover the monetary and nonmonetary damages you’ve experienced. Monetary damages are the actual cost of your injury, evidenced by statements in dollars like medical bills, therapist statements, pay stubs that demonstrate lost wages, and other documentation showing the money you lost due to the harm you’ve suffered. It also indicates the potential future expenses you may have to cover if you suffer long-term injuries.
Nonmonetary damages are harder to quantify, but they are still crucial to consider. These include suffering, pain, and emotional distress, which can adversely affect your quality of life. The injury that resulted from the medical malpractice or negligence had disrupted your life, your typical healthy lifestyle, or the career you enjoyed before you were hurt. These damages are highly subjective and are often based on monetary damages multiplied from 1 to 5 times the amount.
Punitive damages occur in malpractice cases where the defendant intentionally failed to comply with the standard of care designed to keep patients safe. The court may issue punitive damages to punish the defendant and deter other practitioners from behaving the same way.
Conclusion
Understanding the differences between medical malpractice and negligence will help you know what you need to build a strong case and secure the compensation you deserve. By working with seasoned attorneys, you’ll have a better chance of protecting your rights.
Ronemus & Vilensky is a team of accident lawyers in New York specializing in medical malpractice, personal injury, civil rights, traumatic brain injury, sexual harassment, and many more fields. We are one of the greater New York City’s most accomplished personal injury law firms, helping thousands of victims receive their due financial compensation. Contact us today to learn more about how we can provide you with effective legal counsel.