For victims of medical malpractice, the weeks and months after the toll the injury has taken its on them can be brutal. They want justice, and they believe that their medical provider or physician should be held responsible. This is understandable, and every case should be looked at and fully investigated. However, it is also important for the victims to know the other side of the equation, because there are ways that medical providers and physicians can successfully defend the charges against them in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Knowing the other side gives you a better picture of what’s going on, and can alleviate some of the anxiety associated with a civil lawsuit. So, with that said, what are some common defenses to a medical malpractice claim?
The first is the most obvious: any standard negligence defense will work in a medical malpractice case because medical malpractice falls under negligence law. So if they can prove that the care they provided was in line with medical standards, or that you caused the injury yourself, then they could successfully defend themselves against the claims.
They can also make an argument that you didn’t follow the instructions of the physician or medical institution. For example, were you taking the prescriptions they gave you? Were you taking the right amount and at the right times? Did you do something physically that the doctor warned you about? All of these could be sufficient defenses to your claims.
No medical malpractice case is straightforward, nor is justice guaranteed for the plaintiff. But anyone who has been wronged under the guise of medical malpractice owes it to themselves and their family to have their case fully investigated.
Source: FindLaw, “Defenses to Medical Malpractice,” Accessed Jan. 12, 2018