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Columbia, MO Medical Malpractice Lawyer

If you or a family member are hurt because your medical provider’s actions or omissions did not meet accepted professional standards, you may be able to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit. These claims can be some of the most difficult claims to prove. Therefore, it is especially important, to hire a Columbia, MO medical malpractice lawyer who has decades of experience with these cases. The AW Smith Law Firm has experience in litigating and winning malpractice cases that have been worth millions and millions of dollars. The AW Smith Law Firm also partners with some of the nation’s largest and most successful, medical malpractice law firms. These partnerships allow our personal injury team to handle even the largest and most difficult medical malpractice cases.

What Must be Proven in a Malpractice Claim?

To win a medical malpractice case, there is a lot more to prove than a failure to diagnose or treat by a physician, surgeon, nurse, hospital, or clinic. These types of lawsuits are won by proving numerous conditions and failures existed and/or occurred, during the course of treatments.

First, a lawyer must prove that a doctor/patient relationship existed. Then, there needs to be a provision of care proven, that falls or fell below the accepted medical standards of care. Often these provisions of care include decisions made on how to treat and when to treat, decisions on the types of treatments and/or a failure to treat, and/or a misdiagnosis. It must be proven that these provisions of care fell below the accepted medical standards and that there was a breach in that standard of care, that resulted in medical negligence, according to Missouri Law.

Next, a lawyer in Columbia must prove in a medical malpractice case that a “causal connection” existed between the hospital’s, clinic’s, or physician’s medical negligence and the harm the patient suffered as a result. The patient’s harm also has to be quantifiable. Many times, the causal connection and the quantifiable damages are the most difficult to prove due to many other illnesses, injuries, treatments, or side effects the patient could be experiencing.

Examples of Medical Malpractice Claims in Columbia

Medical malpractice can take on many forms and may occur at any time during a patient’s visit to their healthcare provider. Some of the most common types of medical malpractice claims include:

  • Failure to diagnose or delayed diagnosis
  • Birth injuries
  • Emergency room errors
  • Misdiagnosis
  • Medication or pharmacy errors
  • Surgical negligence
  • Errors involving the administration of anesthesia

One or multiple parties can be at fault in this type of claim. Legally responsible parties may include doctors, nurses, pharmacists, anesthesiologists, and hospital administrators. During these cases, an attorney must need to submit an affidavit of merit stating that a medical expert agrees the defendant’s negligence caused the patient’s injuries. This affidavit needs to be filed within 90 days of filing the complaint. If more than one medical professional is believed to have caused the harm, an affidavit of merit must be filed with respect to each of them. A Colombia medical malpractice attorney could help someone determine if they have a viable medical malpractice claim.

Hiring a Columbia Medical Malpractice Attorney

At the AW Smith Law Firm, P.C., our Columbia medical malpractice lawyers hire the best medical experts in the U.S. to provide key evidence and testimony to the jury. It is crucial the jury understands the illness or injuries of the patient/plaintiff, what the appropriate diagnosis and treatments should have been, and what the hospital, doctor, or surgeon did or did not do that fell short of the acceptable medical standards of care. For more information about what our team could do to help you, call today.