Why Medical Malpractice Cases Are Complicated

Special Laws and Regulations

Medical malpractice laws are different from conventional personal injury laws. The laws also vary at the state level. For example, in Indiana:

• The Medical Review Panel must review your case (with a few exceptions) before you file it in court.
• Caps apply for medical malpractice damages. The cap is $1,800,000 as of June 30, 2019.
• Contributory negligence, which bars your recovery if you contributed to your injury, only applies to medical malpractice but not to other injury cases.

Many people are not conversant with these laws. Approaching your medical malpractice case without understanding the process and applicable laws can lead to complications.

Subject Matter Complexity

Human health is a complicated subject. And many people don't understand all the issues that medical malpractice cases typically raise. For example, many people don't understand:

• How drugs work or interact with each other
• Surgical procedures
• How complex organs, such as the heart and brain, operate

Thus, the majority will be in the dark when such issues come up for discussions during medical malpractice claims. In most cases, both the plaintiff and defense sides will need expert witnesses to provide technical or professional analysis of the subject matter. You are also likely to need numerous witnesses to prove your case.

Difficulties in Proving Negligence and Causation 

The difficulty of linking the defendant's negligence to your injury is also another source of complication in medical malpractice cases. First, anyone seeking medical care already has a health condition that can lead to complications.



Second, medical care doesn't provide a guarantee of recovery. A patient's condition can worsen even with the best medical care possible. Thus, you might struggle to prove that your medical condition worsened or didn't improve because of the doctor's negligence and not any other thing.

Possibility of Multiple Liable Parties 

Many medical malpractice cases include multiple defendants. Consider a surgical malpractice case where potentially liable parties can include:

• The hospital for hiring and retaining an unqualified surgeon
• The surgeon for performing a surgery for which they don't qualify
• The surgical nurse for not intervening in time when complications arose

Any legal case involving multiple defendants raises several complications. For example:

• The defendants can start blaming each other to deflect responsibility from themselves.
• You have to prove each defendant's contribution to your damages.
• The involvement of all defendants can protract the case since they all need to be involved.

In some cases, you might even discover another defendant halfway through the case, complicating matters further. Don't forget that you may need to include all the potential defendants to recover your total damages.

The Risk of Huge Settlements and Reputational Damage 

Lastly, you should know that medical malpractice settlements are often huge. Any case where the potential payout is huge is likely to attract a spirited defense from the defendant.

Additionally, players in the medical industry are strongly motivated not to lose medical malpractice cases. For example, losing a medical malpractice case, especially a highly publicized one, can ruin the reputation of the doctor or medical facility. Thus, these parties will do everything possible to avoid liability and protect their reputations.

Given all the above complications, you should consider Wegner & Associates for your medical malpractice case. We have over four decades of experience with medical malpractice claims. Contact us for a consultation to review your case, and we'll advise you on the way forward.