Not every “mistake” or “omission” by a physician constitutes medical malpractice. So what is necessary to establish to a medical malpractice claim in Connecticut?
1. The medical provider failed to meet the appropriate standard of medical care;
2. The patient was injured; and
3. The medical provider’s failure to meet the appropriate standard of care was the proximate cause of the patient’s injury.
In order to establish a deviation from the standard of care and that the deviation caused the patient’s injury, the patient must produce expert testimony. If the patient fails to do so, the case will be dismissed.
A recent Hartford Superior Court case illustrates this point. In that case, the attorney for the doctor argued that the patient did not disclose an expert witness. The patient claimed that a doctor he treated with was his expert witness.
The judge concluded that the treating physician’s notes and testimony were insufficient to establish that the defendant doctor’s conduct was a proximate cause of the patient’s injury. Therefore, the judge granted the defendant doctor’s motion for summary judgment.