Injury Insight Podcast

Takeaways

• Medical malpractice is the negligence of a medical professional, where they either do something they shouldn’t have done or fail to do something they should have done.
• Negligence and medical malpractice are essentially the same thing, with the only difference being the actor involved.
• In order for a medical malpractice lawsuit to occur, the negligent act must have caused harm.
• Not all instances of medical malpractice result in a lawsuit, as there must be a specific injury caused by the malpractice.
• It is important to consult a lawyer who specializes in medical malpractice cases to determine if there is a valid claim.

Chapters

• 00:00 Understanding Medical Malpractice and Negligence
• 00:56 The Relationship Between Negligence and Medical Malpractice
• 01:53 The Requirement of Harm in Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
• 02:49 Instances Where Medical Malpractice Lawsuits May Not Apply
• 03:18 The Importance of Consulting a Specialized Lawyer for Medical Malpractice Cases

Transcript

(00:01.422)
Welcome to Injury Insight, the podcast that unravels the stories behind personal injury and medical malpractice lawsuits, examines the science behind the claims, and spotlights the fight for justice in the healthcare system. Your host for the podcast is Mike Duffy, a practicing attorney with over 25 years of experience. On this episode, Mike clarifies the differences and the relationship between medical malpractice and negligence.

He explains the requirement of harm in medical malpractice lawsuits and discusses instances where medical malpractice lawsuits may not apply. If you think you may have a medical malpractice claim, this episode will be extremely valuable. And now, Attorney Mike Duffy.

(00:51.956)
Medical malpractice is the negligence of a medical professional. So negligence is someone has done something they shouldn’t do or has not done something they should have done. So negligence is if somebody has done something they shouldn’t do or has not done something they should have done. Medical malpractice is simply the negligence of a medical provider. So where a doctor has done a surgery they should not have done.

has failed to diagnose a cancer they should have diagnosed or something to that effect. there’s no significant difference in the eyes of the law as to negligence versus medical malpractice. They’re more or less the same thing. It’s just the actor changes. We all can, in many instances, commit negligence or negligent acts on a regular basis, whether they cause harm or not, right? If we’re driving down the street too quickly, whether

we get a speeding ticket or not, or whether we hit somebody or not, we still committed a negligent act. The negligence is failing to act in this manner a reasonable person would act under the circumstances. So the only real difference with medical malpractice is who’s doing the acting or failing to act. So of course, the fact that a doctor may or may not have committed a negligent act or nurse or

a hospital employee doesn’t necessarily mean there’s a lawsuit. In order to get to a position where there is a lawsuit, the negligent act has to have caused a particular harm. So again, as we define medical malpractice, it’s not just the act of malpractice. It is the act of malpractice coupled with an injury which was caused by that malpractice.

As you can imagine, there are a lot of times people will call and a doctor will have done something they should not have done, but they either have not suffered any significant harm or the harm that they think they have suffered was not caused by that doctor’s malpractice. An example might be where somebody has pre -existing back injury that keeps them from being able to walk properly. And maybe the back surgery is done incorrectly.

(03:11.576)
But at end of the day, they’re left with the same injury they had, that they can’t walk correctly. That wasn’t caused by the doctor. We often have failure to diagnose cancer cases. The doctor did not cause the cancer. So unless we’re able to show that the doctor committed an act that allowed that cancer to grow unchecked and become much more difficult to treat or maybe even fatal, then there’s not going to be a case. You have to be able to show that that doctor’s negligent act

caused a particular injury. Of course, many people experience an interaction in the medical community and think they might have a case and bluntly just aren’t sure. Under those circumstances, you really do need to call a lawyer who knows what they’re doing. There are lots and lots of lawyers out there and if you read almost any lawyer’s website, they’re going to tell you that they do medical malpractice cases.

The reality is I’ve been doing this a very long time and there are very few people who actually do medical malpractice cases that are able to represent a plaintiff or an injured party, a plaintiff being the injured party, in an effective fashion. Most of those law firms with the websites like that are just going to refer the cases out to somebody who knows what they’re doing. You’re better off calling someone who knows what they’re doing in the first instance. I would encourage, of course, Duffy and Duffy.

This podcast is for entertainment and educational information only. Nothing said here should be construed as constituting legal advice, nor does it imply any relationship between the listener and Duffy and Duffy law. If you have any questions about a personal injury or medical malpractice issue you are facing and want to see if you have a case, please contact Duffy and Duffy to schedule a confidential consultation. You can call us at 516 -259 -3775.

or email Mike Duffy at mduffy@duffyduffylaw.com and we’ll get back to you quickly.