Can You Sue a Doctor for Negligence?

If you believe you or a loved one has experienced medical malpractice, you may be wondering … can you sue a doctor for negligence?

In this article, you will discover when you can and can’t sue a doctor for negligence.

Some people quip that medicine is more art than science. Your body isn’t an art project, nor is it a science experiment. The decision to put your health into the hands of a medical specialist isn’t minor; it demands a certain degree of trust. So while mistakes happen, and procedures don’t always go as expected, you shouldn’t be left with a mountain of debt or painful future medical expenses because of a doctor’s error.

But does that mean you can sue for negligence? It’s difficult to say without knowing the exact details of your case. We’ll cover some of these nuances and help you to understand how medical negligence cases work in this quick FAQ.

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is the formal name for an incident in which a medical professional does something that causes injury or additional illness to a patient in their care. Hospitals, individual doctors, nurses, physical therapists, home health aides, and anyone in the healthcare field may fall under the “medical professional” umbrella.

This claim arises because of negligence or omission in care. These things can happen at any stage of a patient’s journey — at the time of testing and diagnosis, during treatment, or even during the follow-up care after a procedure. A doctor may neglect to run a specific test, resulting in a misdiagnosis. Or, they may misinterpret your radiology reports or lab results. Conducting unnecessary surgical procedures, operating on the wrong limb, prescribing incorrect or contraindicated medications, or a simple lack of care in taking a patient’s medical history and assessing symptoms can all lead to malpractice.

When Should You Consider a Lawsuit?

Medical malpractice is tough to prove and there is a certain separation that protects doctors from what a court might consider a frivolous lawsuit. For example, a heart patient who suffers a stroke because they had to come off of blood thinners before a life-saving surgical procedure will be hard-pressed to prove medical negligence. The risk of not having surgery was greater than the risk of coming off of the blood thinner, even though blood clots and strokes were always a possibility.  Both a stroke and the side effects it carried were unfavorable, but they are considered a standard risk.

Here’s a different example: a patient is about to have a right knee replacement procedure. They speak to the doctors and nurses before the procedure and enter the OR feeling confident. Upon waking, they realize the doctor replaced the left knee instead of the right. This mistake would not (and could not) happen without the doctor’s negligence. Surprisingly, this situation happened so often that medical staff now ask patients to confirm the procedure before starting anesthesia. They also mark the joint to eliminate the risk of a mistake once the procedure begins.

What Are the Requirements for Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim?

The nature of a patient’s injury, the duration of recovery, and future expenses are all things to consider when deciding whether to file a claim for negligence.

You will need to consider:

• Whether the treatment you received violated an expected standard of care. For example, you can expect an EMT responding to your home emergency to know CPR, but you can’t expect him to know how to perform a
• Whether you can prove you had a relationship with the doctor in question. This may be your primary care provider or a doctor you saw in a clinic or hospital. You must have an established expectation of care. For example, you can‘t eavesdrop on a doctor’s conversation and then decide he gave you bad advice.
• You must be able to prove negligence. Most doctors discuss the pros and cons of procedures and medications before treatment progresses. Being unhappy because something didn’t work as you had hoped isn’t grounds for a malpractice suit. Being prescribed the wrong medication and becoming critically ill is cause for complaint.
• You must prove negligence caused your injury. A cancer patient’s family, for example, may think a doctor’s negligence caused their loved one’s death. They must prove that it was the doctor’s mistake, and not the illness, that resulted in death.
• Negligence must include specific and notable damage. It may disable you, prevent you from working, or force you to stay in continued therapy. Or, it may cause you to experience significant or chronic physical or mental pain. Essentially, if the damage impedes any part of your life, it probably qualifies as a type of harm.

Can You Sue for a Doctor for Negligence?

Yes, you can.

There is a prevalent belief that damage caps for medical malpractice suits prevent it from being a worthy endeavor, but these caps do not prevent patients from seeking compensation for medical expenses. Instead, they’re in place to limit access to money for non-economic side effects (things that have no tangible value). The $250,000 cap on non-tangibles includes claims for pain, suffering, loss of life enjoyment, and scarring.

No cap exists on compensatory damages. These include your medical bills, lost wages, home health care, physical therapy, and similar expenses. All of these things have clear costs associated with them.

A patient can even sue for punitive damages in California. To succeed, they must show the doctor was negligent, malicious, or somehow fraudulent. For example, an orthopedic surgeon may use a device he produced through an owned company instead of the market’s current “best” product. Omitting or hiding that relationship with the manufacturer is unethical and can be considered fraudulent.

How to Sue a Doctor

So, can you sue a doctor for negligence?

If you believe you or a loved one experienced doctors errors or medical malpractice, it’s important you find a lawyer as soon as possible.

You must document all interactions with your healthcare providers, find expert medical witnesses, and follow your state’s statute of limitations for filing a malpractice claim. A qualified medical malpractice attorney will navigate discovery rules and limits to make sure they can gather all the information needed for your case.

Filing a medical malpractice suit isn’t easy, but it is possible.

If you’re not sure where to stary, give us a call and we’ll help schedule a free consultation with an attorney for you.