Are unexpected results always medical malpractice? This question was posed to me offline in the context of a surgery that did not go as expected. The results were, as told to me, unacceptable. Based on these results the person had concluded that medical malpractice must have been the culprit. To this person that was the end of the assessment.
I would like to go further into this topic because it is not only relevant to surgery cases but the analysis holds true for birth injury cases, especially in the context of on hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy injury. This issue really gets to the heart of how we prove negligence cases, specifically medical malpractice cases. At the conclusion of this educational article, and supporting video, you will see how the end result is essentially just the starting point in this process.
What Is Negligence, Legally?
To really understand this issue one needs to have a working understanding of negligence. Negligence has a legal meaning which might differ from a lay person’s definition. Legal negligence is broken down into four basic elements. They are the following:
1. Whether there is a duty to be obeyed
2. Whether there is a breach of the duty
3. Whether the breach of the duty caused
4. Damages / Injury or harm
When a client contacts a medical malpractice attorney, these are the types of issues that must be taken into account when looking to advise a client. In addition to the above regarding negligence, for medical malpractice issues the attorney must also consider whether there was a departure from the standard of care which is the cause of the injury or the harm.
Are Unexpected Results Always Medical Malpractice?
In the context of birth injury cases when a baby has suffered an HIE brain injury, this is understandably an unexpected result which causes parents to want answers. To be honest it can be easy to understand how families can automatically conclude that medical malpractice must be the culprit. With the above stated, birth injury cases must be presented through the same lens as other negligence and medical malpractice cases.
For birth injury cases a main area of contention is whether the action, or inaction of the medical professionals is what caused the injury or the harm. To be frank, medical negligence is not the only thing that can cause a baby to suffer an HIE injury. Attorneys who concentrate in this work know that other issues can present themselves and cause these types of injuries. For example, in our birth injury investigation we must make sure that things like genetics and developmental issues are not the true cause of the injury.
To know this, your attorney has to have a grasp of the medical issues that HIE brain injury cases present. One thing that you do not want to happen is to move forward on a claim like this and have your case defeated through something like a motion for Summary Judgment because you cannot meet the needed elements as a matter of law.
To speak with me further regarding a birth injury investigation into the cause of your baby’s HIE brain injury at birth I invite you to contact me at my information below. I speak with families like yours about HIE injuries and cerebral palsy all the time and I would be honored to listen to your baby’s story.
Marcus B. Boston, Esq.
9701 Apollo Dr. Suite 100
Largo, Maryland 20774
1-833-4 BABY HELP
