Many people have negative opinions regarding medical malpractice suits and will often vociferously declare, when confronted with the subject, that such cases are a frivolous waste of time and valuable court resources which are perpetrated by unscrupulous and greedy individuals for personal gain.
At least, that is the story told by medical professionals and the companies that sell them malpractice insurance. Despite the copious amounts of research which indicates that the rates of medical malpractice incidents are skyrocketing, they are still maintaining this story.
Frivolous Malpractice Claims
Frivolous malpractice cases often come about when the patient doesn’t get the desired outcome from their treatment or procedure. The medical industry refers to this as a ‘bad outcome’. The patient is not only upset that their procedure didn’t work, they are also incensed that they are still expected to pay for it.
Despite how angering these situations may be, they do not qualify as legitimate grounds for a malpractice lawsuit.
Genuine Malpractice Claims
In order to be legitimate, a claim has to be based on genuine medical negligence. This is defined as an act or omission which does not meet established industry standards and results in the injury or death of a patient.
The main difference between frivolous and genuine cases is an undesirable outcome can occur even with the best quality of care, whereas legitimate malpractice is a breach in the accepted standard of care that results in real harm.