"Medical malpractice" is a term generally used to refer to a civil lawsuit brought by a patient against a health care provider for injuries suffered as a result of negligent medical care or treatment.

Why Choose Hutton & Hutton For Your Medical Malpractice Case?

• In excess of 100 verdicts/settlements over One Million Dollars.
• Our 7 largest recoveries average over $11 Million.
• Multiple settlements involving brain injuries, quadriplegia, paraplegia, wrongful death and other personal injuries arising from medical malpractice.
• Two attorneys who are also Registered Nurses.
• Our attorneys are licensed to practice in Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Nevada and Washington, D.C.
• Free case review.
• No up front money required.
• No fees or costs unless we are successful.

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Medical malpractice may occur in many different settings. For example, a physician may be negligent in failing to recognize signs of fetal distress during child birth causing an infant to needlessly suffer a brain injury. A surgeon may be careless during surgery and cause damage to other organs. A hospital records department may fail to store and retrieve X ray films appropriately causing records to be lost and a cancer diagnosis to be missed. A nurse may fail to follow a physician's orders in the administration of drugs. A technician may err in selecting the wrong blood type for administration to a patient.

It is important to note that unsuccessful treatment, a poor result or an adverse outcome alone is not negligence or medical malpractice. A health care provider generally cannot guarantee the results of his or her medical treatment. Therefore, a patient must prove that the health care provider was negligent to sustain a claim for medical malpractice.

State law, with a few limited exceptions, governs medical malpractice lawsuits. Accordingly, there are variations in the law from state to state. However, as a general matter, there are five elements to most medical malpractice claim:

Duty of Care

A health care provider owes a "duty of care" to patients. To establish the duty, a patient must prove that the patient had a professional relationship with the health care provider to receive medical care and treatment. The proof of the relationship establishes the duty of care.

Standard of Care

A health care provider fulfills his or her duty of care by complying with the "standard of care." The standard of care is specific to each case. Usually, the standard of care requires a physician to use that degree of learning and skill, with ordinary care and diligence, ordinarily possessed and used by members of that profession and of that school of medicine in the community in which the physician practices, or in similar communities, and under like circumstances.

Deviation

To prove negligence, a patient must prove that his or her health care provider deviated from the standard of care thereby violating his or her duty of care.

Causation

A deviation from the standard of care alone is not sufficient to maintain a lawsuit. The patient must also prove that the deviation caused the patient to suffer some form of personal, physical injury.

Damages

The final element of a medical malpractice claim is "damages." Damages arise from the personal, physical injury and generally include medical expenses, lost wages, pain, suffering, disability, disfigurement and/or mental anguish.

As with most civil claims, a statute of limitations allows a certain amount of time in which a medical malpractice action may be filed. In some states, the statute of limitations in malpractice cases is shorter than the statute of limitations governing other types of claims. Therefore, if you think that you are the victim of medical malpractice, you should consult an attorney who is knowledgeable in medical malpractice cases as soon as possible.

Through the years Hutton & Hutton has been involved in hundreds of medical malpractice cases all over the country. Our firm is recognized by members of the medical and legal community as specialists in the area of medical malpractice litigation. Many of these cases are referred to us by other attorneys and health care providers who want their clients and/or loved ones to have the best legal representation possible and who also want a firm with expertise in this area and who have a proven track record. Our firm has its own medical records department, medical library and has three nurse attorneys on staff.