Doctors Have Legal Obligations To Their Patients

Medical malpractice cases arise when doctors fail to meet the obligation they owe to their patients. A doctors obligation to their patient should be taken seriously every time, because if duty is not met the hospital and doctor could be held liable. Duty in a medical sense is defined as a legal obligation one person owes to another person. Whether or not a doctor, hospital, or other medical professional owes a duty is for the court to determine.

In New Mexico, whether a duty is owed to a patient is determined by public policy. For most medical malpractice cases, there is no question of duty because any doctor or other healthcare professional treating the patient owes a duty to the patient. (“It is well established that ‘a doctor owes a general duty to provide competent care in treating a patient’s medical condition.’”). General Surgeons are the doctors most likely to commit medical malpractice. While actual malpractice occurring is still rare, doctors that had a claim against them were mostly older males. 1% of doctors in the medical field are connected to one-third of paid malpractice claims according to Stanford researchers.

More than 50% of claims are from doctors in internal medicine, obstetrics and gynecology, general surgery and general practice/family medicine. If doctors have had a prior malpractice claim against them it was a likely predictor that the chances of another claim would arise in the future. But not all malpractice claims are paid out. Only about 1 in 3 are and one-third of claims resulted in the death of a patient.

Medical malpractice cases can arise from all sorts of treatment given by a doctor. But what’s most important to remember is that malpractice cases are very hard to prove in court. If you think you have a case, that shouldn’t hold you back from talking to a lawyer. The best way to know if you have a case is to speak with a qualified medical malpractice lawyer today.