Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice is defined as the provision of medical treatment, including diagnosis, drug therapy, surgery, or explanations given to the patient before medical treatment and the like, by a doctor or medical team or nursing staff (nurses) or pharmacist, in a hospital or health fund while deviating from the accepted medical standard or from the level of reasonable care, when as a result of this deviation the patient suffered damage that would not have occurred but for this deviation.

A lawsuit for medical malpractice is a civil lawsuit based on tort law which includes the general definition of "negligence" appearing in sections 35 and 36 of the Torts Ordinance [New Version]. A victim who has proven that medical malpractice occurred in his case is entitled to receive compensation from the defendant for the damage caused to him due to the negligence.

In order for a medical malpractice victim to succeed in his lawsuit, he must prove the existence of three conditions that form the basis for negligence:

• Breach of the duty of care owed by a medical entity to the victim – in the field of medical malpractice, the "reasonable doctor" test has been established as expressing the standard of conduct expected of a doctor, deviation from which constitutes negligence. Court rulings have determined that the doctor must use a level of knowledge and professionalism that exists and is exercised by doctors at a good professional level as of the relevant date when the medical treatment was provided.

• Occurrence of damage – according to the Torts Ordinance and according to court rulings, damage can be both physical and mental. In recent years, case law has recognized types of damages that previously did not entitle compensation and has even increased the amounts of compensation awarded under these heads of damage.

• Causal connection between the breach of duty of care and the occurrence of damage – compensation in torts will be given only when there is a causal connection between the defendant's negligence, namely the breach of duty of care by the medical entity and the damage.

Courts in Israel have recognized additional types of medical malpractice that do not refer only to negligence in the medical treatment itself; negligence expressed in failure to obtain informed consent from the patient and the patient's right to compensation for violation of his autonomy.

Regarding "informed consent," it has been determined that in order to perform medical treatment, the patient's consent is required, after he has received a full and detailed explanation regarding the nature of the treatment, the risks and possible complications associated with performing that treatment, and the alternatives to the treatment. In cases where it is proven that informed consent was not given and that had the patient been aware of the risks or complications that occurred he would not have agreed to receive the medical treatment as a result of which damage was caused, whether as a result of negligence or not, the patient is entitled to monetary compensation for his damages.

If you have suffered damage as a result of negligence in the provision of medical treatment, you may have grounds for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. Our office specializes in lawsuits for medical malpractice, has accumulated extensive medical knowledge and experience over decades of activity, and works with leading medical experts. Therefore, we recommend contacting our office immediately for legal consultation and examination of the feasibility of filing a lawsuit on grounds of medical malpractice.