Medical Negligence*

Medical Negligence * is one of the most traumatic experiences that an individual can experience. Medical Negligence can lead to physical, emotional and personal trauma, as well as loss of earnings. Cosgrove Gaynard Solicitors offer an expert service to victims of medical negligence with the aim of a case not only being compensation for the negligence suffered but also providing the victim with justice. One hopes it also assists in improving medical standards.

Examples of Medical Negligence may include:

Failure to diagnose

Misdiagnosis of a condition

Unreasonable delay in treating a diagnosed condition

Mistakes made during a procedure or operation

Prescribing the wrong medication

Failure to obtain consent for treatment or failure to warn about the risks of a particular treatment

Neglect and injuries during childbirth

To succeed in a medical negligence case a plaintiff must establish all four elements of the tort of negligence for a successful medical negligence claim which are:

1. A duty of care was owed. An immediate duty is owed whenever a medical practitioner undertakes care or treatment of a patient.
2. That duty of care was breached. The medical practitioner must be shown to have failed to conform to the relevant standard care.
3. The breach of duty of care caused an injury to the plaintiff
4. Damages. Without damages there is no basis for a claim, regardless of whether the medical provider was negligent.

Once all four of the above are present a medical negligence case is established.

As soon as you believe that you may have a medical negligence claim *, you should contact Cosgrove Gaynard Solicitors to discuss whether you have a viable case.  There is a strict timeline for taking a negligence case. Pursuant to Section 7 of the Courts and Civil Liability Act, 2004, a Medical Negligence case must commence within two years from the date of knowledge of the medical misadventure event which is generally when the negligence occurred. Many victims of medical negligence have delayed pursuing a claim or contacting their solicitors and therefore were unable to pursue valid claims because their claims have become statute barred.