Believe it or not, acts of medical malpractice are among the top leading causes of deaths here in the United States, resting in third place for deaths, following heart disease and cancer. Annually so much money is being spent in paying out victims and their families of medical negligence, and in just the year of 2012 alone there was over $3 billion spent in payouts to the victims. When broken down,. This means that one payout was made every 43 minutes, every day in the U.S. What is so shocking about these cases is that every 43 minutes a payout is being made, meaning that there at that many people suffering from the negligent hands of medical practitioners. Whether it was an error made during surgery, or it was a misdiagnoses that lead to stage 4 cancer and eventual death; people in our country are greatly suffering as a result of medical malpractice from heir health providers.

Medical malpractice is defined as the actions done by any type of medical professional or healthcare provider who fails to meet the assumed standard of care for their patients. Not only that, but these actions must have been done (and proven that they were done) in an act of negligence. This act must be assumed to be substandard care when observed by another medical professional in their field who would state that under the same circumstances they would have not chosen that route of treatment. It is important to emphasize that in a malpractice claim, the victim must be able to prove to the court (with the help of a skilled litigator) that the actions conducted were not only wrongful but negligent.

How then, can you know whether the doctor's actions were negligent as opposed to a simple mistake or there was not enough information present at the time to help the patient properly? With the guidance of an experienced medical malpractice attorney, you will need to prove that somehow the doctor's actions resulted in your injury or further illness more than just a simple undesirable outcome. Learning you have cancer, for example, cannot be blamed on the doctor; however, if they failed to diagnosis the obvious symptoms, than the fault actually may be theirs for your future suffering or perhaps even wrongful death in the future.

Another factor that is important to take into consideration when dealing with a potential medical malpractice claim is the fact that this process may be lengthy and complicated to go through. However, if you are convinced that you are a victim, then be sure to contact an experienced attorney as soon as possible because the statute of limitations on a medical malpractice claim tend to be less than any other personal injury claim. Be sure to contact a lawyer immediately, and they will evaluate your case and determine if you have enough to go against a medical professional. Another factor that you want to be aware of, is that due to the level of commitment and effort that needs to go into this form of lawsuit, lawyers will only want to pursue the case if there is enough to prove the negligence and receive a substantial amount in recovery on your behalf. They understand how much it takes to prove a doctor's actions were negligent, which is why they want to be confident before agreeing to your case.

When looking for a medical malpractice attorney, you want to be sure to look for someone who is competent not only in the matters of law, but also in medicine that can fight on your behalf.