Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Ramat Gan

What is Medical Negligence?

Medical negligence is a deviation from the required standard of medical care, committed by a medical professional (physician, nurse, surgeon, medical examination, or medical institution) and causes harm to the patient's body or health. This is a legal concept governed by Israeli tort law, which describes a situation in which the provision of medical care or the failure to provide such care exceeds the boundaries of the standard of care that would be expected under these circumstances.

Medical negligence can be an act of commission (doing something that should not have been done) or an act of omission (failing to do something that should have been done). In both cases, if there is a causal connection between the physician's or institution's conduct and the resulting harm, the patient may be entitled to legal action and monetary compensation.

Why Is It Important to Understand Your Rights?

When you entrust your health to a medical professional, you expect to receive high-quality, responsible, and professionally competent care. Any deviation from the accepted standard of care may lead to suffering, loss of work capacity, additional medical expenses, and other difficulties. In such cases, the law grants you the right to sue for compensation for damages resulting from the negligence.

Understanding the concept of medical negligence and distinguishing between a medical error and legal negligence is critical. Not every medical error constitutes legal negligence. Legal discourse surrounding medical negligence is complex and requires thorough analysis of evidence, medical expert opinions, and high legal precision.

The Difference Between Medical Error and Medical Negligence

It is important to distinguish between these two concepts, which are often confused:

• Medical Error: An action or decision by a medical professional that did not necessarily result in damage, or was the result of circumstances that could not have been prevented under the given conditions. Minor errors or treatment that led to a negative outcome despite the doctor's best efforts do not always constitute legal negligence.
• Medical Negligence: A significant deviation from accepted treatment, carried out negligently (i.e., without the required care), and causing demonstrable harm. The negligence must be substantial and not trivial.

In legal language, medical negligence is defined as a deviation from treatment that would have been accepted by medical professionals of similar skill under similar circumstances. This is an objective standard that does not depend on the opinion of a single doctor, but rather on the standard existing within the medical community.

Elements of a Medical Negligence Claim

For a medical negligence claim to succeed, several elements must be proven:

1. Existence of a Doctor-Patient Relationship: There was a legal relationship between the patient and the medical professional (doctor, hospital, etc.).
2. Deviation from Accepted Treatment: The conduct of the doctor or institution deviated from the standard accepted by the medical community under these circumstances.
3. Causation of Harm: As a result of this deviation, demonstrable harm was caused to the patient (physical injury, pain, loss of earning capacity, etc.).
4. Causal Connection: There is a direct causal relationship between the negligence and the harm — that is, without the negligence, the harm would not have occurred.

All of these must be proven through testimony, medical reports, expert medical opinions, and other legal documents.