Medical Negligence FAQs

Our Medical Negligence page has more information about making a claim if you believe you’ve been injured by medical malpractice.

  • Anaesthetic errors
  • Birth related complications including c-sections, stillbirths and cerebral palsy
  • Cosmetic procedure injury, such as liposuction
  • Incorrect prescriptions
  • Failure to adequately follow up
  • Failure to provide appropriate after-care
  • Errors made during surgery
  • Unnecessary surgery
  • Laboratory results misread or not acted upon
  • Failure to refer for specialist advice
  • Symptoms not recognised
  • Wrong dosage for medications
  • Mistakes made in medical treatment, such as during surgery
  • Misdiagnoses
  • Delay in diagnosing or treating your condition
  • Failures to adequately warn of the risks involved in medical treatment; or
  • Failures to provide adequate treatment.

Not every injury which occurs while a patient is under the care of a health professional will be negligent and sound in damages. The patient will need to prove, among other things, that the health professional’s conduct fell below a reasonable standard of care appropriate to the particular circumstances.

A bad outcome from a procedure does not necessarily mean the doctor was negligent. It ultimately comes down to whether the practitioner failed to provide treatment to an acceptable standard and that the failure to do so is the cause of your injury. This can be difficult to prove, but it’s why you need specialist medical negligence lawyers and solicitors on your side. We are experts in this particular area of law and know exactly what it takes to achieve a successful outcome.

In Victoria, an injured patient is entitled to make a claim for damages for pain and suffering provided he or she is assessed by a medical practitioner as having (or exceeding) a threshold level of permanent impairment (injury) as set out by law. It is possible to proceed with a claim for loss of earnings, out of pocket expenses and costs of care even if a permanent level of impairment cannot be proven.

One essential element to be proved in a medical negligence claim is that the negligence of the health professional was the cause of or contributed to your injuries.

It is our experience at Arnold, Thomas & Becker that a large proportion of our client’s claims settle at mediation and never reach trial. Unfortunately, we cannot guarantee this outcome however we will do our very best to settle your matter as early as possible.