If you sue someone in the medical profession, that probably means you feel they harmed you. Maybe you’ll sue a doctor, or perhaps a nurse or an orderly. You may also sue a clinic or hospital if you feel they acted improperly, but you can’t blame one particular staff member.

If you sue, then maybe you’re alleging medical malpractice. Perhaps you’re alleging medical negligence instead.

Medical malpractice and negligence don’t mean precisely the same things, though they’re similar. In this article, we’ll talk about both of them. 

What Does Medical Malpractice Mean?

Medical malpractice means someone in the medical field harmed someone else through their action or inaction. You may also hear the term “care standard” when you listen to a lawyer talk about medical malpractice.

You should get what the medical profession calls the standard of care if you visit a clinic, hospital, or private doctor’s office. The standard of care means the way the medical profession would reasonably expect this facility and its staff to treat you. 

In other words, if a doctor or another medical professional didn’t give you competent care based on standard practices, then you can usually allege medical malpractice occurred.  

What Elements Go into Medical Malpractice?

If you hope to prove medical malpractice in court, you must usually prove or conclusively establish four different elements. You must first establish that the medical professional in question had a duty of care to you, the patient. 

Next, you must prove that a breach occurred. The medical professional did not give you the standard of care that their profession assumed should take place. 

Next comes causation. The failure by this person or facility caused you harm. Finally, you must prove damages. You suffered an injury or became ill because of what the facility or individual in question did or didn’t do.

If you hope to collect any money from a medical malpractice lawsuit, you must prove all four of these elements so that a jury agrees with the assessment. But what about medical negligence? 

What Does Medical Negligence Mean?

Medical negligence means a medical professional or facility failed to provide the care standard that the patient expected. As a result, this patient suffered an injury or become ill.

If you look at the definition of medical negligence versus the one for medical malpractice, you will see that they look very similar to each other. However, if you file a lawsuit against a person or entity, you need to understand the subtle distinction that exists.

How Do Medical Malpractice and Negligence Differ?

If a medical professional’s actions do not meet the standard of care, then that’s medical negligence. However, if that negligence harmed the patient, that qualifies as medical malpractice.

As you can see, they’re similar, but not exactly the same. From a legal standpoint, medical malpractice is a more serious category than medical negligence. 

To prove medical negligence, you must prove that an omission or unintentional act by a medical professional took place. A failure to meet the care standard occurred. It was also an avoidable mistake.

With medical malpractice, a medical professional committed a reckless or intentional act or made a medically significant omission. They deliberately did something that deviated from accepted medical care standards. This action also caused the patient harm.

What Examples Might You Use for Each One?

If you are still not sure about the difference between these two similar concepts, you can look at it in this way. If you’re having surgery, and the surgeon accidentally nicks one of your blood vessels, that’s medical negligence. They committed a mistake while performing a legitimate medical duty.

If a surgeon performs a surgery without first running all of the tests to determine the operation’s necessity, that’s medical malpractice. If they did something like that, then they did not just make a mistake. They also did so while acting recklessly.  

What Should You Do if You Suspect Medical Malpractice or Negligence?

If you suspect medical malpractice or negligence, you don’t need to spend any time worrying about the distinction between them. Instead, you can go seek the counsel of a personal injury lawyer who knows all about this area of the law.

If you can locate and hire the right lawyer, then they can determine whether the medical professional or facility committed either medical negligence or malpractice. You should know, though, that if you go after an individual because you’re alleging medical malpractice took place, then you can probably get more money out of the deal if you successfully win your lawsuit.

If you sue someone and allege medical malpractice, though, they might feel that they have to fight back vigorously against those charges because they have their reputation on the line. If you file a lawsuit and you get some damages from medical negligence, then that can damage a hospital or doctor’s reputation. If you allege medical malpractice and win your case, though, that’s considerably worse.

Medical facilities and doctors typically have insurance. That insurance policy might for pay some or all of the damages if you force a settlement or win money via a jury’s decision in your favor.

You will need to provide plenty of evidence to prove medical malpractice, though, more so than medical negligence. Your testimony might help you win your case, but you would also hope that you have plenty of additional evidence to make a satisfactory lawsuit conclusion more likely. 

If you do not think that your testimony alone can prove medical malpractice, then you may need to call on some expert witnesses for help. Such individuals can often assist you in a medical malpractice case if they agree that something a doctor did or didn’t do falls into that category. 

They must also explain it to the jury in such a way that they agree with your assessment that medical malpractice took place. That’s how you’re liable to get a large sum of money from the lawsuit.