Alternative medicine is sometimes hard to define. Putting it in the strictest terms, it would include anything that does not actually require an M.D. to practice or any type of medicine that is not generally accepted by the overarching medical establishment as being based in science. By this definition, everything from homeopathy to acupuncture to therapeutic touch would be included. If you’re wondering if you can sue one of these practitioners for malpractice, the answer is oftentimes “yes”.
Increasing Frequency of Medical negligence Lawsuits
Practitioners of alternative therapies are increasingly finding themselves facing lawsuits for negligence and malpractice. The only way to figure out for sure whether or not any alternative practitioner who has wronged you is liable for being sued for malpractice is to speak with a Personal Injury Attorney. This is still an evolving area and your attorney will have to look at past precedent and current cases to see how you would go after somebody who wronged you. Overall, however, the criteria for filing a lawsuit against such an individual would be roughly the same as it is for filing a lawsuit against a mainstream doctor.
Medical malpractice and medical negligence, in a very broad sense, refer to instances where a healthcare practitioner took you on as a patient and failed to deliver competent care to you. It doesn’t precisely mean that the practitioner is actually incompetent in the general sense of that term. What it means is that, in the specific instance that applies to your case, they were negligent. Therefore, suing a chiropractor because they injured you in the course of adjusting your back isn’t the same as saying that they’re a quack and doesn’t require you to prove as much. It only requires that your attorney is able to prove that, in your case, they were negligent.
Awards and Settlements In Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
Medical negligence claims tend to get an awful lot of press because of the very large settlements and jury awards that are sometimes involved. Remember that the people who get the settlements oftentimes suffered grievously. Many of them will endure a lower quality of life for the foreseeable future and some of them will never be able to work or support themselves again. Some of them end up with conditions that will never heal simply because a healthcare practitioner did not provide them with competent care.
If you’re not sure whether or not and alternative healthcare practitioner did something that could be classified as medical negligence, you need to speak with an attorney. Even if it’s not likely that you can sue them as a healthcare provider, the attorney may be able to sue them for negligence in some other fashion. This is a complicated area of the law but, overall, the laws that govern negligence are set up to protect people who are victimized by the negligence of others.
Texas has very specific laws regarding medical malpractice claims and there are limitations on how long you have to act. If you’re not sure whether or not you want to move forward with a lawsuit, speak with an attorney so they can tell you how long you have to think about the matter before your time expires.