Healthcare professionals can make mistakes while treating patients that can cause various harms, including injuries, infections, health complications, or the progression of untreated illnesses. Treatment errors may constitute medical malpractice or medical negligence. Malpractice or negligence may give a harmed patient the right to seek financial recovery for their losses. But does Oregon law distinguish between medical negligence and medical malpractice? Understanding what medical negligence and malpractice mean can help you pursue accountability and compensation if you’ve experienced injuries or complications from substandard healthcare.
What Is Medical Negligence?
Medical negligence is a subset of negligence. Under the law, negligence refers to a party’s failure to exercise a duty of care or reasonable care, which causes another person to suffer harm. A negligence claim must meet four elements:
- Duty: A party accused of negligence must have a legal duty of care to the harmed party.
- Breach: The accused party must have violated their duty of care.
- Causation: The breach of the duty of care must have caused the claimant’s harm.
- Damages: The claimant must have suffered financial or personal loss as a result of the harm.
What Is Medical Malpractice?
Medical malpractice is a type of negligence that applies to licensed healthcare professionals, including doctors, nurses, physical therapists, and pharmacists. Medical malpractice occurs when a healthcare professional fails to provide treatment that meets the applicable standard of care. The specifics of the standard of care vary between each patient’s case. However, the law generally defines the standard of care in medical malpractice cases as the treatment decisions and actions that other professionals with similar training and experience would make under the same circumstances.
Malpractice Is a Type of Negligence
Parties may alternatively refer to medical negligence and medical malpractice. Under Oregon law, medical malpractice and medical negligence are the same thing because malpractice is a type of negligence. However, medical malpractice claims have specialized procedural rules that other kinds of negligence claims do not. These unique procedural requirements include the need for expert testimony to establish the standard of care in the patient’s case and specific filing deadlines for lawsuits.
Why the Distinction Matters Under Oregon Law
The distinction between medical malpractice and ordinary negligence claims matters under Oregon law for various reasons, including:
- Different filing deadlines: Medical malpractice claims may have different filing deadlines for lawsuits due to the discovery rule, which states that a statute of limitations does not begin running until a party discovers their injury. Furthermore, medical malpractice claims in Oregon also have a statute of repose that imposes a hard deadline on claims regardless of when a person discovers their injury.
- Expert witness qualification requirements: In most cases, a person pursuing a medical malpractice claim must present expert testimony from a healthcare professional who holds an identical or similar license and practices in the same or a similar field of medicine as the professional the person sues for malpractice.
- Pre-suit notice requirements: Malpractice claims against government-owned hospitals may also have specific pre-suit notification requirements and deadlines under Oregon’s Tort Claims Act.
These circumstances make it essential for a patient who has suffered injuries or complications from medical care to seek legal counsel as soon as possible to avoid jeopardizing their options for recovering compensation.
Contact Our Personal Injury Firm Today for Assistance
After you suffer harm due to negligent medical care, you may have the right to seek financial compensation for your losses in a medical malpractice claim. Contact Wayne A. Lamb Law today for an initial consultation with an Oregon personal injury attorney to learn more about medical malpractice claims and discuss whether you may have a viable case against your healthcare provider.