Information and Insight for Injured Iowans

     While you may believe poor medical treatment caused problems for you or a family member, you will usually need a doctor to confirm it.  It is important to know which doctors can and will help you, and how to use their expertise to get answers.
     In order to prove that a doctor committed malpractice in Iowa, an injured patient must usually present evidence showing that what the doctor did was different than what the average doctor- with the same experience and training- would have done. This evidence must usually come from another doctor who specializes in the same type of medicine as the doctor who is suspected of malpractice. In other words, if an emergency room doctor made a serious error during your treatment, you will usually need another emergency room doctor to testify that the care you received was “malpractice.”
In order to find out whether medical treatment qualifies as malpractice, an attorney has to gather all of the important medical records for an injured patient and then have those records evaluated by a doctor who will look for treatment that is “below the standard of care.”
     Usually, Iowa doctors will not publicly criticize the care provided by other Iowa doctors. That means that Iowa malpractice victims often need to have their cases evaluated by out-of-state doctors. A review by an out-of-state expert is usually the only way an injured patient can be assured of getting an honest assessment of questionable medical care.
     For that reason, a medical malpractice attorney must have contacts with medical experts around the country and enough expertise to gather the right records and ask the right questions. As you can probably imagine, contacts in the national community and medical-legal expertise can require years to develop. That is why it can be important to put your trust and your case in the hands of an Iowa attorney who has real experience handling medical malpractice cases.
     To learn more about medical malpractice in Iowa, go to Iowa Malpractice Facts to download a free 35-page guide.