What is medical malpractice?

By: Darrell Castle

Video Transcript

Hello, I’m Darrell Castle, an attorney licensed to practice law in the state of Tennessee and on this video, and a series of videos in the future, I’m going to be talking about medical malpractice and medical negligence.

And today on this first video, let’s talk about what medical malpractice really is, and to start off, I’m going to tell you what it isn’t.

It is not bad bedside manner. It is not rude or discourteous conduct by a doctor or nurse of some hospital employee. It’s not something as simple as a routine traffic accident – a fender bender if you will.

What medical malpractice really is, is conduct by doctor, nurse or hospital that falls beneath the standard of care. Every local area has a standard. Memphis has a standard. New York City has a standard. Omaha, Nebraska has a standard. And they’re all different so you have to have expert testimony so you have to have doctors with expert medical training who are qualified to give an affidavit saying this doctor, this nurse, this hospital’s conduct is not within the standard of care for this local area. So, that doctor – that expert – has to be familiar with the standard of care in that local area.

Now in addition to all those things, there has to be a significant injury. The injury has to be significant enough to justify the time and expense that goes into a medical malpractice claim. It’s a very serious matter to bring one – you need to understand that – because you’re accusing someone who has spent many many years in school studying to be a healer – to help lives and save people – and you would be accusing that person of conduct beneath the standard of care which is a serious matter.

But, nevertheless, it does happen – it happens quite often. Doctors do fall beneath the standard of care from time to time and sometimes the medical malpractice system that we have is the only way you can achieve justice.

Well who pays for all this malpractice? Well, that’s a good question folks and it’s a good subject for our next video.

If you or a loved one have been injured due to the negligence of a medical professional, you can speak to one of our experienced medical malpractice attorneys, free of charge, by filling out the “Get in Touch” form online, or by calling us at (901) 327-1212