Medical malpractice is when a healthcare professional such as a nurse or surgeon does not provide proper medical care, resulting in injury or harm to the patient. It can cover all kinds of things, from making a mistake during a surgical procedure to failing to diagnose a serious disease despite the patient having clear symptoms. To qualify as medical malpractice in Kentucky, there are four key elements that must be proven:
Duty of Care
Healthcare providers have a duty to provide competent, safe, and appropriate care that adheres to the accepted medical standard. This means providing care that a reasonable and prudent healthcare professional would provide under similar circumstances. If a provider fails to meet this duty of care and harms the patient as a result, it could be medical malpractice.
One case saw an emergency care Nurse Practitioner and radiographer sued for failing to spot a watch battery in a child’s nose, which caused tissue necrosis and led to surgery. The subsequent lawsuit centered on a delay in care. A medical malpractice attorney can help determine whether a provider breached this duty in a way that justifies legal action.
Breach of Duty
In addition to having a duty of care, the provider must also breach this duty through action or inaction. If the healthcare professional provides substandard care that deviates from the medical standard of care, this is considered a breach of their duty. Examples include surgical errors, misdiagnosis, delayed diagnosis, anesthesia errors, medication errors, and more. The care provided must be measured against what a reasonable medical professional would have done.
A Florida case – Sozomentou v Arfaras – involved a lawsuit where an emergency physician and radiologist failed to correctly diagnose an elderly man with an aortic dissection that killed him the same evening he presented to an ED with chest pain. Had the doctors done their job, the patient would not have died.
Causation
It must be proven that the healthcare provider’s breach directly caused the patient’s injury or damages. There must be a direct link showing that the substandard medical care resulted in harm. If the patient already had an illness or injury unrelated to the provider’s actions, there is no causation. Causation requires showing that proper diagnosis and treatment likely would have prevented or minimized the resulting injury.
A Kentucky case – Satterwhite v. Dr. Sekela – involved a case where a surgical sponge was left inside a patient after surgery, which caused preventable complications.
Damages
The patient must have suffered tangible injuries or damages due to the medical negligence. This can include physical injuries, pain and suffering, emotional trauma, lost wages, medical bills, and other monetary losses. If there are no quantifiable damages, there are no valid grounds for a malpractice claim in Kentucky.
In addition to these four elements, there is also a one-year statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in Kentucky. This means the claim must be filed within one year from the date when the injury was spotted or reasonably should have been discovered. There are exceptions for patients under 18 years old and for foreign objects left inside a patient’s body.
Proving medical negligence caused direct harm to the patient is key for a valid malpractice claim in KY.