Thursday, May 20, 2010

What Does a Medical Malpractice Lawyer Do?

A medical malpractice lawyer represents individuals who do not believe that their doctor gave them adequate care and for one reason or another did not fulfill his duties as a doctor. Obviously, doctors cannot cure anything and everything, so you can't sue a doctor because she didn't cure you, but if a doctor did not give you the care that another doctor of the same specialty who was in similar circumstances would have given you, then you may have the ability to win a lawsuit.

A lawyer that specializes in medical malpractice understands what your legal rights are, what responsibility the hospital and doctor have in treating you, and what options there are for your case.

Before any procedure is used on a patient, a consent form must be signed either by the patient, a legal guardian, or by someone who can legally make medical decisions for the patient if the patient is unable to do so. Many are under the impression that by signing a consent form, you are signing away your right to legal recourse if something goes wrong. This is not the case. Consent forms will outline what medical risks are associated with the procedure, but it doesn't give doctors the right to perform malpractice. If it is possible that another doctor with the same expertise in a similar situation were to possibly do the same thing, then that is not malpractice, but if another doctor was not likely to do it, then it is possibly malpractice, and you attorney will be able to help you determine if you have a case or not.

If you believe that you have a case of medical malpractice, consider finding a lawyer in your area that specializes in these types of cases. For example, if you live in Maryland, you would want to hire one of the Maryland medical malpractice attorneys.

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