Medical malpractice in Cyprus is when professional medical treatment has breached the ‘Standard of Care’ for medical doctors which includes nurses, dentists, dermatologists, chiropractors e.t.c. and has resulted in injury or death. In general, the ‘standard of care’ refers to the medical treatment that a reasonable, careful medical provider should provide.
The concept of ‘standard of care’ in Cyprus is very similar to that of what the ‘reasonable man’ would do in a common law case in the UK. If a medical malpractice case arises in Cyprus, it is usually where there is a dispute over this ‘standard of care’. On a medical malpractice case in Cyprus, the standard of care is usually provided through the use of expert testimony from consulting doctors that practice or teach medicine in the same specialty as the defendant(s). This expert testimony is important because a lack of recovery or an unsuccessful result from surgery or a treatment does not necessarily mean that the standard of care was breached, it may simply mean that the patients experiences were unsuccessful.
A medical malpractice litigation lawyer in Cyprus will firstly study a case very well in order to decide whether his /her client has a case to prove. This is very important as medical malpractice litigation is very expensive and includes costs associated with pursuing the litigation, including expert witness fees, deposition costs, exhibit preparation and court costs. The medical malpractice litigation lawyer in Cyprus will then review all the facts given to him/her by his/her client as in any negligence case; the burden of proof being on the plaintiff, so therefore it is up to the victim to tell his/her medical malpractice litigation lawyer why they believe there was medical negligence and also prove that as a direct result of the medical negligence, some injury or death resulted.
A medical malpractice lawyer in Cyprus will have to consider many things including whether the victim’s behavior contributed to the bad medical result; for example, a pregnant woman using drugs during her pregnancy or whether the victim followed the Doctors orders. The medical malpractice lawyer will commence a series of investigations should his/her client have a case. He/she will also minimize the red tape and paperwork that are required for resolving such claims. A good medical malpractice lawyer in Cyprus will use experienced medical experts and investigators during the investigation of his/her clients claim and will be able to provide advice on how to resolve the dispute without having to go through a costly trial.
At times there are catastrophic injuries caused by medical malpractice and negligence such as brain damage, amputation, spinal cord injuries and wrongful death. These injuries may arise due to a misdiagnosis of life threatening symptoms, improper treatment or where a medical practitioner fails to follow up with treatment. In these severe cases, the medical malpractice lawyer will file a lawsuit for medical malpractice so that the family of the severely injured or deceased will receive financial compensation that may relieve the financial burden that has been placed on them.
