Medical malpractice is an injury or wrongful death arising from a medical provider or hospital negligence. To build a solid medical malpractice claim against the hospital, your Ocala medical malpractice attorney must prove that: The medical provider or hospital had a duty of care to keep you from undue harm, injury, or death. This duty of care can vary by medical provider. The medical provider or hospital violated or breached their duty of care. Civil personal injury law acknowledges that the medical profession and its sub-specialties recognize specific medical standards as an acceptable medical treatment by reasonably prudent medical professionals under the same or similar circumstances. This is what sets the standard of care. All patients have the right to expect that all medical professionals and hospitals will deliver care congruent with these standards. If you can show the doctor failed to meet proper standards, you prove that medical negligence occurred. You suffered harm because of the breach of duty: For a medical malpractice claim to be successful, it's not sufficient that the medical professional breached the standard of care. While this is concerning, the patient must also prove that they sustained an injury that would not have occurred if it weren't for another party's negligence. In the medical field, an unfavorable outcome alone is not malpractice. The breach was the direct and proximate cause of your harm: The patient has to show that the other party's negligence resulted in the injury. The case won't succeed if negligence did not lead to the injury. The harm you suffered caused a compensable loss, such as additional medical bills, out-of-pocket expenses (including parking and gas for medical appointments or prescriptions), lost income and wages, and pain and suffering: Medical malpractice cases are incredibly expensive to pursue, often necessitating testimony of many medical experts and innumerable hours of deposition testimony. In a viable case, the patient must establish that they suffered substantial damages from an injury sustained due to medical negligence. If the patient’s damages are nominal, the cost of pursuing the case might be greater than the potential eventual recovery. To pursue a medical malpractice case, the patient must establish that their injury caused: Disability Loss of income Unusual or chronic pain Suffering and hardship Significant past and future medical bills