When medical care goes wrong, doctors and hospitals often use a familiar line:
“We did everything we could. Sometimes bad outcomes just happen.”
That may be true—but not always. At Hendrickson Law, we’ve spent decades helping patients uncover the truth behind “bad outcomes.” In many cases, what providers call “just a mistake” is actually medical malpractice—and there’s a big legal difference between the two.
This post explains what counts as malpractice, how it differs from ordinary complications, and what you need to prove if you suspect a healthcare provider’s actions caused serious harm.
Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other provider fails to meet the standard of care, and that failure causes harm.
In legal terms, there are four key elements to every malpractice case:
The provider had a professional obligation to treat the patient. (This is almost always satisfied if there was a doctor-patient relationship.)
The provider failed to act as a reasonably careful provider would have under the same circumstances. This is where we compare their actions to the standard of care.
The breach directly caused the patient’s injury, harm, or worsened condition.
There must be measurable harm—physical, emotional, or financial—as a result of the error.
If any of those elements are missing, you may have experienced a bad outcome—but not a viable malpractice claim.
It’s a myth that doctors are protected from liability just because they “meant well.” Courts and juries recognize that doctors are human—but not all mistakes are acceptable in a professional setting, especially when lives are at stake.
Examples of excusable errors:
Complications that are known and unavoidable risks of a procedure (e.g., minor bleeding or scarring)
Bad outcomes that occur despite following the accepted treatment protocols
Honest judgment calls between equally valid options
Examples of malpractice:
Ignoring obvious warning signs or symptoms
Failing to order tests that would have revealed a life-threatening condition
Leaving a foreign object inside a patient
Delaying treatment for a stroke, heart attack, or infection
Misreading lab or imaging results and acting on the wrong information
If a provider’s conduct falls below what a competent peer would do, and it leads to harm, it’s not just a mistake—it’s negligence.
Ask yourself the following:
Were you or a loved one harmed after receiving medical care?
Was the harm avoidable with better care or earlier intervention?
Do you believe something was missed, rushed, or ignored?
Have you had to undergo additional surgeries, treatment, or rehabilitation because of what happened?
Were you kept in the dark about what went wrong?
If the answer to any of these is yes, you owe it to yourself to ask questions—and get answers.
In most malpractice cases, proving a breach of the standard of care requires testimony from a medical expert in the same field as the provider who caused the harm. At Hendrickson Law, we work with respected surgeons, ER doctors, radiologists, and specialists who can evaluate what really happened—and whether it was preventable.
You don’t need to know whether it was malpractice before you call a lawyer. That’s our job.
We’ll:
Review your medical records
Consult with trusted experts
Determine whether the case meets all legal elements
Advise you on your options—with no upfront cost
It’s about accountability, truth, and protecting future patients from the same avoidable harm.
Call Hendrickson Law at (314) XXX-XXXX or visit www.hendricksonlaw.com to schedule your free, confidential consultation.
Don’t let them brush off your suffering as “just a bad outcome.” If it was preventable, it may be malpractice—and you deserve justice.
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