Establishing Professional Negligence in Medical Malpractice
By Jim Bizzieri | Published on July 25, 2011 | 0 Comments
Doctors are amongst the most trusted members of society, going so far as to swear an oath that stipulates they will practice ethically and in the best interest of their patients. As such, we trust them with our health and well-being and often put our lives in their hands. However, doctors are still human and they can make mistakes. That is when one needs to seek a Chicago malpractice attorney to hold the doctor accountable.
Jim Bizzieri is a medical malpractice attorney in Chicago with the Bizzieri Law Offices, and he says that one of the most difficult parts of his job when faced with a malpractice suit is establishing what’s called professional negligence. “Basically, professional negligence is a duty breach that causes damages or even death to a patient,” he says. According to Bizzieri, when doctors practice medicine it is done with the basic assumption that they are doing so competently and exercising their best judgment. Therefore, when their care falls below accepted standards of practice in the medical community, a claimant might be able to sue using professional negligence as an argument.
In order to establish professional negligence, Bizzieri says that there are a number of criteria to be met and obstacles to overcome. “The most important thing will be a testimony from another medical expert,” Bizzieri says. “So you use a medical expert in the field in which you’re alleging there’s malpractice – someone who understands the level of care required and knows if there’s mistreatment, or if there’s death that it was proximately caused due to negligence.”
Bizzieri says that to do this, a Chicago malpractice attorney will interview the patient, or the patient’s family in the case of death, and create a picture of his or her medical history. This will include looking over past diseases or injuries, analyzing medical records, and even taking tissue samples if necessary. This is all important, Bizzieri says, in creating a diagram that shows what issues the patient may have had previously and providing the evidence that supports the claim that the injury was inflicted by the doctor, not a result of prior medical issues. “So you go through the history with a fine-tooth comb and look at what’s negligence and then reduce it to its simplest form so the expert can take a very strategic look at what you’re providing and determine whether negligence has occurred.”
Finally, after a medical expert has looked over the history and can vouch for the genuineness of the claim, Bizzieri can begin working on receiving a settlement or filing a lawsuit. So if you have been injured in a medical malpractice case, consider going with an experienced Chicago malpractice attorney like Bizzieri who can fight aggressively for your case.
*Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. You should not rely on this article as a legal opinion on any specific facts or circumstances, and you should not act upon this information without seeking professional counsel. Publication of this article and your receipt of this article does not create an attorney-client relationship.