What must you prove when suing for medical malpractice?
- Last Updated: April 24th, 2025
What must you prove when suing for medical malpractice?
When you go see your doctor or dentist or enter an Ohio hospital, you expect your doctor, dentist and all the other health care professionals to take good care of you and have the education, knowledge and skills necessary to get you well and back to your life.
The last thing you expect is that you will be sicker or more injured after receiving care from such professionals.
Unfortunately, however, preventable medical errors have become the third leading cause of death in the United States.
As you probably already know, if you suffer injury or increased illness after being treated by a physician or other health care professional, you have the right to sue that person and/or the hospital where (s)he works for medical malpractice and recover money damages if you prevail.
Proving your case
As FindLaw explains, in order to win your medical malpractice lawsuit, you must prove the following four things by clear and convincing evidence:
- That the physician, dentist, other health care professional and/or hospital owed you a duty of care
- That (s)he gave you substandard care, thereby breaching his or her duty
- That because of this breach, you suffered injury
- That his or her breach proximately caused your injury
Applicable standards of care
As you might expect, different physicians, health care providers and health care personnel have different standards of care to which they must adhere.
For instance, a surgeon’s standard of care is quite different from that of a nurse, a dentist, a physical therapist, etc.
Therefore the defendant(s) in your medical malpractice civil suit must have breached their own specific standard(s) of care in order for you to prevail.
In addition, the expert witness(es) you use to prove breach of care must be professionals who operate under the same standard(s) of care as the respective defendants.
This is general educational information and not intended to provide legal advice.
About the Author: Frank Piscitelli
As a first-generation Italian in the United States, Frank is no stranger to tough times.
His father’s family moved to Cleveland from Italy on May 22, 1958, with a few articles of clothing, some personal items and very little money.
His family shared a home with three other related families but happily worked long hours doing jobs that involved physical labor, just to put food on the table.
There was the promise of hope and opportunity, which was missing before his family moved here.
Member of the Ohio State Bar Association since 1993. With 30+ years of legal experience, Attorney Frank Piscitelli has secured over $55 million in compensation for Ohio injury victims, car accident victims, and surviving family members of Ohio wrongful death victims.
Legally Reviewed
This article has been written and reviewed for legal accuracy and clarity by the team of writers and attorneys at Piscitelli Law Firm and is as accurate as possible. This content should not be taken as legal advice from an attorney. If you would like to learn more about our owner and experienced Ohio personal injury lawyer, Frank Piscitelli, you can do so here.
Fact-Checked
Piscitelli Law Firm does everything possible to make sure the information in this article is up to date and accurate. If you need specific legal advice about your case, contact us. This article should not be taken as advice from an attorney.
Additional Resources
A serious injury can have life-altering results.
Don’t settle for less than you deserve, speak with an award-winning personal injury lawyer today.
Table of Contents
For 30 years, Frank Piscitelli has been fighting for clients who have been the victims of the wrongful death of a loved one.
Do you believe you’re entitled to compensation?
Use our Instant Case Evaluator to find out in as little as 60 seconds!
A serious injury can have life-altering results.
Don’t settle for less than you deserve, speak with an award-winning personal injury lawyer today.
