When you or a loved one seek help from a medical professional, you should not have to worry about sustaining further injuries or becoming more ill due to the medical provider’s actions. However, preventable medical errors are the third leading cause of death in this country, according to researchers at Johns Hopkins University. At Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli, and Pratt, P.A. we are here to help if you need a Hawaii medical negligence attorney by your side. If the negligence of a medical professional has caused harm to you or a loved one, we want to ensure that you are treated fairly and recover the compensation necessary to make a full recovery.
What is medical negligence – is it medical malpractice?
Researchers at Johns Hopkins have said that medical errors take the lives of approximately 250,000 people each year in this country. However, the death rate is only part of the overall picture of how medical negligence can cause significant patient harm. Many others sustain significant injuries or illnesses caused by the negligent actions of healthcare professionals.
Medical errors occur in a variety of ways, and they can be perpetrated by the negligence of a doctor, surgeon, EMS professional, nurse, anesthesiologist, physician’s assistant, and more. Some of the most common types of medical negligence that can cause patient harm include the following:
- Misdiagnosing an injury or illness
- Completely missing a diagnosis
- Delaying treatment of an injury or illness
- Allowing healthcare-acquired infections
- Poorly maintained medical devices
- Surgical errors
- Prescription medication dosing errors
Elements of a Hawaii medical negligence claim
When working to determine whether or not you have a medical negligence case in Hawaii, our medical malpractice attorneys will look to see if the four elements of medical malpractice are present in your claim:
- Existence of legal duty: In the medical environment, a doctor owes a legal duty to a patient after they have established a doctor-patient relationship. The legal duty of care in a medical malpractice claim is a medical standard of care. This means that a doctor is required to treat a patient with the same level of skill and care as a similarly trained and reasonable medical professional would use in a similar situation.
- Breach of duty: An attorney will look to see if the medical professional in question has breached their legal duty of care to the patient. This will occur if the medical professional has failed to uphold the medical standard of care.
- The connection between the breach and the injury: If there has been a breach of duty on the part of the medical professional, then it needs to be determined whether or not the breach was connected to the harm the patient sustained.
- Measurable harm from the injury or illness: Finally, it needs to be shown that the patient suffered quantifiable damages that can be put into a dollar amount. This could include medical bills and lost wages as well as pain and suffering types of losses.
Call our Hawaii medical negligence attorney today
If you or somebody you love has been injured or become ill due to the negligence of a medical provider in Hawaii, contact the team at Kurzban, Kurzban, Tetzeli, and Pratt, P.A. as soon as possible. Our attorneys have extensive experience handling complex medical malpractice claims, and we have the resources necessary to fully investigate what happened. Our goal is to help ensure that you receive proper care and full compensation for what happened to you. When you need a Hawaii medical negligence attorney, you can contact us for a free consultation by clicking here or calling 808-736-5035.