Not every disappointing medical outcome qualifies as malpractice. In New Mexico, medical malpractice has a specific legal definition, and meeting it requires more than simply having a treatment fail to produce the result you hoped for.
The Professional Standard of Care
Medical malpractice claims involve a specialized “standard of care,” meaning the level of skill and treatment a reasonably competent healthcare provider in the same specialty would have provided under similar circumstances. This standard is based on what other qualified professionals in the same field would reasonably have done given the same information and circumstances.
The standard of care varies by specialty and situation. Establishing it typically requires expert testimony from a provider in the same field as the defendant. An expert will review the case and explain what the appropriate standard of care required, then analyze whether the defendant’s actions fell below it.
Malpractice vs. a Simple Bad Outcome
Medicine involves inherent risks, and even the most skilled provider following every appropriate protocol can’t guarantee a positive outcome.
A bad outcome alone doesn’t establish malpractice. To succeed in a claim, you generally need to show:
- The provider owed you a duty of care
- The provider breached the accepted standard of care
- That breach directly caused your injury
- You suffered actual, measurable damages as a result
If a surgery carries a known, disclosed risk of complications, and that risk materializes despite the surgeon following appropriate procedures, that outcome typically doesn’t constitute malpractice.
Common Examples of Medical Malpractice
Certain patterns show up repeatedly in malpractice claims and may suggest deviations from the relevant standard of care. These include:
- Misdiagnosis or delayed diagnosis, such as failing to identify a serious condition that a competent provider should have caught based on the available symptoms and test results.
- Surgical errors, including operating on the wrong site, leaving a foreign object inside a patient, or causing avoidable damage to surrounding tissue or organs.
- Medication errors, such as prescribing the wrong drug, an incorrect dosage, or failing to check for dangerous interactions.
- Birth injuries, resulting from a failure to properly monitor a mother or baby during labor and delivery.
- Anesthesia errors, including administering an incorrect dosage or failing to properly monitor a patient during a procedure.
- Failure to obtain informed consent, when a provider doesn’t adequately explain the risks of a procedure before performing it.
- Premature discharge, when a patient is released before they’re medically stable, resulting in a preventable complication.
Many of these are “never events,” meaning they should never, ever happen in a properly functioning medical system.
An Experienced Medical Malpractice Attorney Can Help You Determine If You Have a Malpractice Claim
Determining whether you experienced malpractice requires a careful review of your medical records, input from qualified experts, and an understanding of how courts evaluate these claims.
An attorney can:
- Review your medical history to identify whether care fell below the accepted standard
- Consult with medical experts to evaluate whether your case meets the legal threshold for malpractice
- Determine which pre-suit requirements apply and help you meet them before any deadline
- Identify every provider who may share responsibility for your injury
Contact our medical malpractice attorney at Coates & Johnson for help understanding your rights.