What If Standards of Care Can’t Be Proven During a Personal Injury Case?

When someone is injured because of someone else’s negligent actions or inactions, the injured party has the right to pursue a personal injury claim. In order to do so successfully, negligence has to be proven. Part of the process for proving fault involves highlighting the standard of care you were owed. In the event standards of care can’t be proven during a personal injury claim, it’s less likely the injured party will receive the compensation they need to recover.

Proving a duty of care existed can be challenging, which is why it’s best to work with a law firm that specializes in personal injury claims. Corban Gunn, Attorney at Law represents personal injury victims in and around Biloxi, Mississippi. We’re prepared to help you with your claim.

Defining Standard of Care

As mentioned, personal injury claims typically rely on the concept of negligence to establish fault. In order to prove negligence, you have to first show how the opposing party owed you a duty of care. Legally, duty of care refers to the responsibility a person has to avoid causing harm to another.

For example, drivers owe a duty of care to each other when behind the wheel. This means operating their vehicles safely and following the rules of the road. In the event a driver breaches that duty, like by texting or driving drunk, anyone who gets injured because of that has the right to pursue legal action.

In the event of a slip and fall accident, property and business owners have legal obligations to keep their premises free from known hazards. If a guest, customer, or tenant sustains a head injury because of a loose stair railing, the injured party would likely be eligible for compensation—assuming there was no way for them to know about the danger.

Establishing the standard of care you were owed can be done during the investigative process. Your lawyer will work with you to collect evidence that proves you were owed standards of care at the time of your accident.

Standards of Care and Medical Malpractice Claims

In the event you’ve been injured by a negligent doctor or hospital, the standard of care becomes even more relevant when it comes to pursuing a personal injury claim. This is because legally all doctors owe their patients a duty of care to practice medicine in a way that’s similar to others in their profession and specialty.

If a doctor fails to provide you with the proper standard of care and you’re injured, your lawyer can call on a medical expert to review the case and explain how you should have been treated. Proving that a standard of care exists, however, is simply done by showing proof of a doctor-patient relationship.

It’s important to note that not all medical mistakes are classified as medical malpractice. For malpractice to have occurred, the patient must have received sub-standard treatment that caused their injuries.

How to Prove a Plaintiff Was Owed a Standard of Care

The challenges associated with establishing standards of care are different for every personal injury claim. This is because every clients’ situation is different. Your lawyer will take your accident type into consideration, as well as any applicable state laws, to determine why you were owed a duty of care and how it was breached.

When standards of care are breached, that breach is often the main factor that causes an accident. From that breach comes the damages and causation. Damages refer to the economic and noneconomic losses suffered by the injured party. Causation is the connection between the breach and the damages. Those elements are all needed when trying to pursue compensation after an accident.

Seek Legal Guidance From Corban Gunn, Attorney at Law

If you’ve been injured in an accident you believe someone else caused, you’ll want to speak with a personal injury lawyer to learn about your legal rights and options. In the event there are grounds to pursue a claim, Corban Gunn, Attorney at Law can walk you through the process and guide you every step of the way. You’ll be able to focus on recovery while trusting that your legal affairs are being handled properly.

Filing a claim does take time. If the process is complicated by a lack of evidence regarding the standard of care, you’ll benefit from working with a lawyer who has the knowledge and resources to determine and prove fault on the part of the opposing party. To learn more about the process, schedule a free case evaluation today.