Everybody knows that doctors are human beings, and therefore capable of making mistakes, but when we put our lives in the care of a doctor, we expect them to behave like professionals. When they fall below that standard, and injure a patient as a result, the injured may hold them liable through a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Although it may seem silly at first glance, a recent news story about a pair of so-called dancing doctors helps illustrate some of the most important principles of medical malpractice law.
The Dancing Doctor
The story involves a woman who filed suit after she said she was injured in a surgical liposuction operation. While she was unconscious for the surgery, her cosmetic surgeon and an anesthesiologist filmed themselves in the operating room, dancing to a song called “Cut It” by O.G. Genasis.
The surgeon posted the video on Instagram and YouTube, and it later went viral. At one point, the surgeon began promoting herself as “The Dancing Doctor.”
The woman later said she developed complications from the surgery and filed a malpractice lawsuit against the surgeon. As it turned out, she was one of nine or more patients who filed malpractice claims against the surgeon. At one point, the medical licensing board suspended her license for two and a half years.
Causation
Separately, this patient filed a medical malpractice lawsuit against the anesthesiologist. That case recently came to a conclusion with the court finding that the anesthesiologist had not committed malpractice.
The anesthesiologist was embarrassed to have taken part in the dancing video, according to his lawyer, but the court found no evidence that his lapse in judgment had led to the patient’s injury.
This verdict illustrates an important point: In a medical malpractice lawsuit, the injured patient must prove not only that the medical professional was negligent, but also that this breach of duty was the cause of their injury.
This point can be crucial to the outcome of many medical malpractice cases, and it is often difficult to prove. Injured patients must rely on the testimony of other doctors and expert witnesses to explain the details to the court.
For this reason, medical malpractice claims can be time-consuming and complex.
