In a Montana medical malpractice suit, there are four elements necessary to prove that the medical professional was negligent. After you have shown that the doctor owed you a duty of care and acted unreasonably, you must show that you were injured and that the doctor caused your injuries. The element of causation is often one of the most difficult elements to prove.
The test is whether your injuries would have happened “but for” the doctor’s actions. However, the question of what is caused by the surgeon is a legitimate one given that some side effects of a medical procedure could have occurred anyway even without a medical mistake.
In other words, even if doctors do their job with the proper level of care, patients can end up injured anyway and it could be considered a natural consequence of their medical issue. The plaintiff needs to show specifically that it was something that the doctor did wrong that changed their health for the worse as opposed to a situation in which their health would have worsened no matter what the doctor did.
What makes it even more difficult for a plaintiff is that the burden of proof is on them to prove their case “within a reasonable degree of medical certainty.” Oftentimes, they are able to prove a mistake but stumble on causation.
A medical malpractice lawyer might be able to help plaintiffs document their case and assemble their best evidence to show that it was the doctor’s mistake that caused their injury. This might involve retaining medical experts to testify and demonstrate exactly how the plaintiff was harmed by what the doctor did wrong. Medical malpractice claims are sometimes difficult to prove, but a medical malpractice lawyer may be a necessary part of a successful claim against a physician.
