Medical malpractice vs. personal injury cases: what’s the difference?
The legal definition of a personal injury is any incident in which negligence on the part of an individual causes an injury to another. A claim for personal injury refers to a civil lawsuit that you have the right to bring against someone whose negligence, recklessness, or intentional act has resulted in some type of bodily injury.
Medical malpractice is a form of personal injury; you have the right to bring suit against a healthcare professional for injuries that resulted from medical negligence or error. Generally speaking, the basic legal requirements of medical malpractice cases are the same as those in a personal injury case. However, in cases involving medical malpractice, being able to prove each element can be more difficult or subject to more statutory control vs. other types of personal injury cases.
Which type of case do you have?
Personal injury is a blanket term for several types of cases involving some type of injury, including medical malpractice. However, medical malpractice cases are more complex because they involve technical procedures as well as medical terminology. These types of cases can be exceedingly difficult to litigate, require extensive amounts of time and research, and a significant amount of documentation.
If you feel that you have been a victim of medical malpractice and are considering filing a claim, your first step needs to be finding an attorney who has extensive experience and success litigating these types of cases and is knowledgeable regarding the laws in California that pertain to medical malpractice.
Scott S. Harris has more than 30 years of experience engaging with cases involving medical malpractice. He has helped clients in San Diego and throughout California get the results they deserve and the financial assistance necessary to recover and move forward with their lives.
Speak with an attorney now
Whether you need to find an attorney for personal injury or an attorney that specializes in medical malpractice, the attorney that you hire must have a thorough understanding of the laws that govern personal injury cases, in general, and medical malpractice cases in particular.
Attorneys often refer to the proof required to bring a successful lawsuit for medical malpractice to be the “4 D’s of medical negligence”:
- Duty of care: a patient is owed reasonable, competent medical care
- Deviation or breach of duty: the healthcare professional in question breached their duty of care as result of negligence or a medical error
- Damages: the harm to the patient that resulted from negligence or error
- Direct cause: a patient’s damages were a direct result of the breach of duty
Developing the evidence to prove breach of duty and direct cause requires a good amount of research and investigation as well as the testimony of medical experts in the field.
Scott S. Harris works with experts in a number of fields in order to address the many scientific and technical issues involved in medical malpractice cases. Contact our office to schedule a consultation.