The law requires that doctors, nurses, hospitals, and all healthcare providers treat their patients with reasonable care so as not to cause injury. This is the same duty of reasonable care expected of all citizens, applied specifically to the medical field.

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The field of medicine is broad, complex and ever-changing. Medical knowledge and procedure evolves constantly, and so does the standard of reasonable care expected of doctors, hospitals and healthcare practitioners.

Medical negligence (malpractice) can occur through an act of commission, (doing something a careful person would not do) or omission (failing to do something that a careful person would have done under the same circumstances). Negligence can entail both acts of omission and commission.

As an example, let’s say a busy surgeon forgets to check the chart and amputates the wrong leg of a patient. The surgeon committed an act of omission by failing to double check before he cut, and an act of commission when he amputated the wrong leg without being sure which leg was injured or diseased enough to require amputation. The patient has clearly suffered damage because the physician failed to exercise reasonable care in performing his duties.

Iowa, like many other states, has special rules in medical malpractice cases which limit the liability of healthcare providers, and protects them from unfair criticism or liability.

For example, shortly after filing a medical malpractice case in Iowa, the plaintiff (injured person) and his/her lawyer are required to disclose the name(s) of a qualified healthcare professional(s) who has reviewed the case and who will testify that the defendant(s) breached the standard of care. Without such an expert(s), to testify about the standard of care, and the alleged breach, the case will likely be dismissed. So most plaintiffs in Iowa make sure that they have gotten an independent healthcare provider to review the case and point to negligence on the part of the defendant before even filing the case.

Medical malpractice litigation is complex because medicine itself is complex. Healthcare providers may avail themselves of special rules and defenses to defeat a claim even if there has been a breach of the standard of care. The proper investigation, evaluation, and prosecution of a medical negligence case require experienced, dedicated counsel. Crowley & Prill have been representing clients with medical negligence claims for over thirty years.

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