What Is The Role Of A Medical Expert In A Medical Malpractice Case?

The role of a medical expert in a medical malpractice case is essential to the case as a whole. Medical experts are responsible for assisting the jury in a care to really understand what happened. If you have a case and are bringing it before the court, do not worry if you cannot get all the facts straight to present. The medical expert is the one responsible for making sense of what happened and is going to help with your case. If you don’t want a medical expert you don’t really have an option as they are an integral role in cases and helping a jury determine a successful outcome.

Medical expert’s role is to assist the jury (or trier or fact) in understanding the evidence and facts at issue in the case. In a case where the court has determined that a medical expert is necessary, the expert’s roles is expanded somewhat because her/his testimony is what the jury must exclusively rely to determine if the doctor or medical provider was negligent.

At the initial stages of a case, a consulting expert can be retained to assists the lawyer in determining if there is a medical malpractice case to bring against the medical provider or facility.  Typically, a lawyer will not pursue a medical malpractice case without having an opinion from a qualified medical expert that medical professional committed malpractice.  After the lawsuit is filed, the consulting expert may then become a testifying expert who will provide testimony in support of the patient if she/he believes to a reasonable degree of medical probability (more likely than not e.g. fifty-one percent) that the doctor or hospital breached the standard of care owed to the patient.  A medical expert (like any expert) must look at all the facts of the case and apply their knowledge, skill, experience, training, and/or education to make a determination if the doctor or other medical provider breached the standard of care owed to the patient. Using the facts of the case and her/his knowledge, experience, etc. the medical expert will the provide an opinion as to whether or not the defendant doctor or hospital was negligent.

If you need assistant determining what the nature of your medical malpractice case is and if you will receive proper compensation we can do just that. Our qualified attorneys have years of experience with medical malpractice cases. Give us a call today at (505)-242-7200.