What is the Difference Between Medical Negligence and Medical Malpractice?

Medical negligence and medical malpractice are terms that are often used interchangeably, but they actually refer to different issues in healthcare. It’s important to understand these differences, especially if you or a loved one has been harmed by poor medical care.

If you or a close loved one has suffered at the hands of an incompetent care provider, you do not have to fight alone. Our team is here to help you. Call Bailey, Javins & Carter at 800-497-0234.

What is Medical Negligence?

Medical negligence occurs when a healthcare provider fails to meet the expected level of care in a specific situation, resulting in harm to the patient. This may happen due to oversight, errors, or a lack of attention to proper medical protocols. Unlike malpractice, negligence does not necessarily involve intent to cause harm.

Examples of medical negligence include:

• Missed Diagnosis: For instance, if a doctor fails to diagnose a serious condition such as appendicitis in a timely manner, resulting in complications, this could be considered negligence. A competent professional would have identified the symptoms and administered the necessary tests to confirm the diagnosis.
• Prescribing the Wrong Medication: If a healthcare provider prescribes a medication that is inappropriate for the patient’s condition or interacts negatively with other medications the patient is taking, this can lead to serious health issues. Proper attention to the patient’s medical history and current prescriptions could prevent such errors.
• Surgical Errors: This includes situations such as performing surgery on the wrong site, leaving surgical instruments inside the patient, or causing damage to organs during surgery. These errors can lead to significant complications and require additional surgeries to correct.
• Failure to Follow Up: If a doctor does not follow up with a patient after treatment or surgery to monitor their recovery and catch any potential complications, this could be seen as negligence. Regular follow-up appointments are crucial in ensuring the patient’s recovery is on track.
• Improper Anesthesia Administration: Anesthesiologists must carefully calculate the correct dosage and monitor the patient’s vital signs during surgery. Administering too much or too little anesthesia can lead to severe complications, including brain damage or death.

When medical negligence occurs, it can have devastating impacts on a patient’s health and well-being. Recognizing these examples and understanding the concept of negligence can help individuals identify when they have been subjected to substandard care and seek appropriate legal advice.

What is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice is a more serious issue compared to medical negligence. It occurs when a healthcare provider not only fails to meet the standard of care but does so in a way actually causes harm to their patients.

Consider, for example, the missed diagnosis example we gave above. We’ll flesh it out a bit first. The patient presented with symptoms obviously matching a certain diagnosis. The doctor declined to test for that diagnosis, believing that the patient was exaggerating their symptoms and fishing for a diagnosis. This would likely be considered negligence, as a reasonable care provider would still have tested, even if just to rule out the health concern. What happens next determines whether it’s just negligent or if it’s malpractice.

Imagine the patient’s condition doesn’t worsen and the doctor decides to provide the correct diagnostic testing after a follow-up appointment to diagnose the condition. The patient begins care and they are no worse off than they would have been had the doctor initially diagnosed them correctly. This may still be negligence, but because the patient did not suffer any harm or have any measurable damages, it would likely not be malpractice.

Now imagine if it went in a different direction. After the patient attempted to seek care, their condition started to deteriorate very quickly. They went to another doctor and received the correct diagnosis, but by that point, the condition had caused permanent damage to one or more organs. While the patient will survive, their quality of life will be permanently lower because of the first doctor’s failure. This is far more likely to be considered malpractice than just negligence.

The Difficulty in Proving Malpractice

You can likely see how this makes things difficult for victims of medical malpractice. In both cases, you have negligence, but only in one case do you have malpractice. How do you prove that the doctor’s inaction in the second scenario led to the worse outcome? It’s not uncommon for doctors to argue that there’s no way to prove that the patient’s condition wasn’t already worse when they saw them, but that it just hadn’t started to show symptoms yet. They may also argue that the condition would have worsened regardless of timely treatment and regardless of the timing of the diagnosis.

This is where it is important to have an experienced medical malpractice attorney. They have a long list of ways to prove that the doctor’s action or inaction likely led to your losses, proving malpractice. For example, they might pull research studies showing the differences in outcome based on how early a patient gets a diagnosis. They may also show research studies showing how the recommended treatment improves outcomes and prevents permanent damage. They’d likely also bring in multiple experts in the same field of medicine who would agree that timely diagnosis and treatment likely would have made a difference in the patient’s outcome.

What These Differences Mean for Your Legal Options

If you’ve been harmed by a healthcare provider, knowing the difference between medical negligence and malpractice is crucial for legal action. In cases of negligence, you need to show that the provider didn’t meet the expected standard of care. For malpractice, you must prove the provider’s failure to meet the standard of care led to your injury.

This distinction affects the legal process. If your care provider was negligent but you did not have any damage or losses related to that negligence, you likely cannot pursue them for compensation. In this case, your only avenue would be reporting them to their state’s board of medicine and hoping that the regulatory board would hold them accountable.

Consulting with a lawyer who focuses on medical law is important. They can help determine whether your case involves negligence or malpractice and advise on the best course of action. Legal professionals can guide you through the process, ensuring your rights are protected and helping you seek the compensation you deserve. Remember, both types of cases are serious, and understanding your options can make a significant difference in achieving a fair outcome.

Take the First Step with Bailey, Javins & Carter

The team at Bailey, Javins & Carter knows how medical malpractice can change your life forever. We are committed to helping victims hold negligent care providers accountable. Call us at 800-497-0234 or reach out online to get started.