Sometimes a medical professional is negligent in the care of a patient, but that negligence is not the cause of the injury to the patient. Since the law requires a connection between fault and injury, not all instances of medical malpractice will result in the award of damages. Expert witnesses are generally required in medical malpractice cases to establish the causal connection between the medical professional’s negligence and the injury to the patient. Expert witnesses play an important role in medical malpractice cases as their involvement is usually required to establish the standard of medical care in the geographical area or in the area of medical specialty at issue. In addition, expert testimony is generally required to establish that the malpractice caused the patient's injuries, unless the cause is obvious to a layperson, such as where a wrong limb is amputated or wrong organ is operated on. In some cases, the cause of injury may be unclear, and there may be numerous medical professionals who have treated the patient. Determining which medical professionals were negligent, and how that professional’s negligence resulted in the patient’s injury, is often complex. In addition, a faulty medical device or drug may be the cause or a contributing factor in the patient’s injury. |
