MEDICAL MALPRACTICE INJURY

In The News

Family requests medical records of nursing home for possible malpractice lawsuit

Medical Malpractice > Pain And Suffering

June 16, 2008

Chicago, IL - Authorities said that the family of a Waukegan woman, Virginia Cole, 78, who died two years ago under what police called "suspicious" circumstances at a Woodstock nursing home are taking steps toward legal action against the facility.

Medical Malpractice Overviews

Special Duties in Medical Malpractice Injury Cases

Physicians or surgeons who hold themselves out as specialists in a particular medical specialty are held to the standard of the average practitioner of that specialty. The generalist who undertakes to practice in a particular specialty will also be required to exercise that degree of care and skill ordinarily used by specialists in that area, not merely the degree of skill and care of a general practitioner. This overview will look later at particular specialists in the medical field.

A health care provider's negligence must be shown to have a causal relationship to the injuries complained of by plaintiff. Although jurisdictions may use different terminology, the courts agree that a defendant is not liable for all injuries that flow from the wrongful act of malpractice. In most states, negligence is actionable only if it is the proximate, rather than the remote, cause of the injury.

The New York Times reported that the large increase in medical malpractice premiums charged to doctors far out-paced actual payout by the insurance companies for malpractice claims.