Medical Negligence Attorney

00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:05.440 Medical malpractice is an area of law where you have suffered harm at the 00:00:05.840 --> 00:00:08.800 hands of a medical facility or practitioner. 00:00:11.000 --> 00:00:15.280 Medical negligence cases require that you show that there has been what's called 00:00:15.680 --> 00:00:20.680 a breach of the standard of care, and what that means is not necessarily 00:00:20.840 --> 00:00:25.400 that you've just been harmed; it has to be that how you were harmed 00:00:25.840 --> 00:00:28.280 was a deviation from the norm. 00:00:28.840 --> 00:00:31.960 Believe it or not, a common medical negligence case that we 00:00:32.240 --> 00:00:37.720 receive calls about is when a practitioner has left a foreign medical device or 00:00:38.480 --> 00:00:42.560 utensil in a patient's body after completion of surgery. 00:00:43.040 --> 00:00:47.560 In medical malpractice cases, there is a definite difference between 00:00:48.160 --> 00:00:51.800 whether or not the harm that someone is suffering was caused 00:00:52.000 --> 00:00:58.720 by a bad outcome or actual medical negligence, and the crucial distinction 00:00:59.120 --> 00:01:03.800 between those two areas of harm is whether or not there's been a breach of the 00:01:04.000 --> 00:01:07.240 standard of care, which is often in medical malpractice 00:01:07.520 --> 00:01:09.400 cases determined by experts. 00:01:09.560 --> 00:01:15.280 Those cases routinely must rely on the testimony of a medical expert to tell 00:01:15.320 --> 00:01:17.560 us whether or not there was actual negligence, 00:01:17.680 --> 00:01:21.440 and that's why it is absolutely crucial to consult with an attorney. 00:01:21.880 --> 00:01:26.960 Medical malpractice cases are very complex in Washington State because there are a 00:01:27.040 --> 00:01:32.080 lot of unique pitfalls that exist in medical malpractice that don't exist 00:01:32.600 --> 00:01:34.840 in other areas of personal injury law. 00:01:35.120 --> 00:01:39.760 A medical malpractice case can recover different types of damages. 00:01:40.160 --> 00:01:44.000 For example, in Washington State, you could be entitled to what's called 00:01:44.480 --> 00:01:48.760 special damages—think the things that are itemized: your wage loss, 00:01:49.040 --> 00:01:53.240 your medical bills, both past medical bills and future medical bills. 00:01:53.720 --> 00:01:57.320 You're also entitled to what's called general damages—think the things that 00:01:57.560 --> 00:02:02.560 cannot be itemized: the pain and suffering, the loss of enjoyment of life, 00:02:02.680 --> 00:02:05.080 the loss of consortium with a spouse. 00:02:05.800 --> 00:02:09.520 All of those things are compensable damages in Washington State in 00:02:09.640 --> 00:02:12.400 a medical malpractice case, and that is something that we are 00:02:12.680 --> 00:02:15.280 well-versed and equipped to do at Cochran Douglas.