The purpose of the civil justice system is to make the person that was injured “whole” again. The court is there to provide an outlet for injured victims to be compensated for their injuries. The jury determines whether or not the doctor breached the standard of care required by the profession. If the jury finds the doctor did in fact breach the standard of care, the jury will then determine damages (subject to the medical malpractice cap in Louisiana). The judge or jury do not impose criminal or professional sanctions on doctors unless the doctor’s actions are found to be intentional. However, most medical malpractice cases deal with failure to follow accepted standards of care and unintentional injuries. Medical standards of care are like motor vehicle rules of the road or traffic signals that are sometimes violated and cause serious injury, even when the doctor acted in good faith and did not intend to cause injury. In those situations, money damages should be properly awarded to an injured patient in a civil suit, but will not affect the doctor’s license to practice medicine.
Medical licensing sanctions will usually involve situations where the general public is at a significant risk of harm by allowing the doctor to continue to practice medicine and the doctor has conducted his or herself in a manner detrimental to his patients or the public, either knowingly or with gross neglect. In those cases, there is a potential for both civil liability and professional sanction. However, as the Times-Picayune has reported, less than 3 doctors have had their licenses revoked annually, while unfortunately medical malpractice is much more common, and injured patients should be fairly compensated where weight of the evidence establishes a violation of the standard of care.
Contact an Experienced Attorney Today
If you have been involved in an incident where you are considering filing a medical malpractice personal injury claim, contact an experienced injury lawyer first. The attorneys at Herman, Herman & Katz, LLC can advise you of your legal rights and work closely with you to develop a strategy for your claim. Our clients benefit from our years of combined experience, and so can you. Schedule a consultation now at 844-285-0267 or fill out our online contact form with your questions.