Many people believe that medical malpractice and medical battery are the same. And in one way, they are; however, even though these two cases have a lot in common, the claims are solved differently.
The best way to learn more about both medical malpractice and the medical battery is to speak with a knowledgeable and experienced medical malpractice lawyer in Philadelphia. Give us a call, schedule your initial consultation (completely free of charge) and receive all the information that you need.
If you are looking to file either a medical malpractice claim or medical battery claim, here are the basic things that you should know before you can proceed.
The Basic Difference
Medical malpractice claims involve:
- Negligent actions of a hospital
- Negligent actions of a doctor or a nurse
- Lack of medical care
- Issuing the wrong treatment or medication
- Performing surgery on a wrong body part
- Misdiagnosis
In order to have a successful medical malpractice case, the plaintiff has to prove that the actions made inside a health care facility directly harmed him/her and were a result of substandard care. However, even though it sounds easy, proving medical malpractice is usually extremely difficult, especially when there is little to no evidence or if the case occurred more than a year and a half ago.
On the other hand, medical battery cases all about informed consent. Even if the case does go to trial, the jury does not have to decide if the appropriate standard of care was violated.
In order to have a successful claim, the plaintiff has to be able to prove the following:
- That he was not informed properly about the procedures
- That he was not informed in advance about the possible side-effects
- That he was not informed about any potential risks
- If he was informed, there was not full disclosure of all potential life-threatening risks
- That if he knew about the risks, he may not have agreed to the procedure
- That he declined to give consent but the procedure was performed anyhow
When children are involved, they are not old enough to give consent to any medical treatments. Their parents have to give consent on their behalf. In some cases, the parents do not give consent, but the hospitals assume that it is what the parent would want, and they proceed with the procedure. The most common cases involve newborn babies.
A medical battery can exist even if the final result benefits the patient. As long as the patient can prove that he or she was not informed properly or did not consent to a certain (or specific) procedure, he or she may have a case in hand.
It is still important to consult with an expert, someone who has dealt with many similar cases of this type in the past. Someone like our Philadelphia medical malpractice attorneys fromThe Weitz Law Firm, LLC, if you do not have an attorney on speed dial, feel free to reach out and one of our available attorneys will evaluate your case and provide you with as much information as possible in a timely manner.
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