Medical Malpractice

Have you or a loved one suffered harm because of a medical provider’s mistake in Washington? Medical malpractice can lead to serious injuries, expensive medical bills, and lost wages. You should not have to deal with these consequences alone. Washington law allows you to seek compensation for your losses, but malpractice cases involve difficult legal and medical issues. A strong legal strategy can make a major difference in the outcome of your case.

The attorneys at Stritmatter Law understand Washington medical malpractice laws and know how to hold negligent healthcare providers accountable. We can gather evidence, consult medical professionals, and fight for your recovery. Contact us today for a free consultation to learn more about how we can help.

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What Is Medical Malpractice?

Medical malpractice happens when a healthcare provider fails to meet the accepted standard of care and a patient suffers harm as a result. In medical malpractice cases, the “standard of care” refers to the degree of care, skill, and learning expected of a reasonably prudent health care provider at that time in the profession or class to which he or she belongs, in the state of Washington, acting in the same or similar circumstances. Violating the standard of care is negligence, and patients must show that this negligence directly caused them harm.

Common examples of medical malpractice include:

• Misdiagnoses or delayed diagnoses
• Surgical errors
• Foreign objects left inside patients
• Medication errors
• Anesthesia errors
• Failure to obtain informed consent
• Birth injuries
• Failure to treat
• Hospital-acquired infections
• Wrongful death

Proving Medical Malpractice in Washington

Washington law allows injured patients to seek compensation for medical costs, lost wages, and pain and suffering through medical malpractice lawsuits. Patients must prove that their providers failed to meet the standard of care to succeed with their malpractice claims. This requires patients to prove three key elements. First, they must show that a doctor-patient relationship existed, meaning the provider had a duty to treat them. Second, they must prove that the provider’s actions deviated from the standard of care. Third, they must demonstrate that this deviation caused harm, such as physical injury, the worsening of a condition, or death.

Washington law generally requires expert testimony to establish the standard of care and show how a provider’s actions fell short. A medical expert in the same field as the provider must explain what a competent provider would have done and how the defendant failed to meet that expectation. However, in some rare cases, expert testimony is unnecessary. For example, if a surgeon leaves a foreign object inside a patient’s body, a jury may not need a medical expert to understand that this was a serious mistake.