Board Certification is the Highest Certification in a Specialty
Board Certification is the Highest Certification in a Specialty
Just because a doctor is board certified, does it mean he or she can do no wrong. When a doctor becomes board certified, it means that he has achieved a baseline level of standard of care that doctors in his specialty have achieved. It does not mean that they are the best at what they do. It only means that they have learnt basic knowledge, basic standards of care, they have been tested on, and passed those examinations. Now, clearly becoming board certified is the highest certification that a doctor can achieve in a particular specialty.
A Board Certified Doctor is not Immune from Medical Malpractice Lawsuits
The fact that they have achieved the particular distinction, does that mean that they may not be careless at a particular point of time? Does that mean that they cannot be negligent or commit medical malpractice at one particular point in time? The answer is no. This is because you could have the best doctor, best board certified doctor, and the reality is that there may come a point in time, where they may do something that is careless, and that carelessness could cause somebody harm.
They may have treated patients in the past with absolutely no problems. However, on one particular day, in one particular moment, they may not have been as careful as they normally are, and because of that carelessness caused the patient particular harm.
Anybody can Commit Mistakes or be Careless
There are many patients who believe that just because a doctor has achieved certain qualification level such as board certification, they feel that automatically there is no possible way they can do anything wrong or be held responsible of accountable for carelessness. However, this is not true, and everybody has to be held accountable for his or her own actions. It does not matter whether they are physicians, accountants, architect, or lawyers; they have to be held accountable for their actions.
The level of certification or being board certified does not make the doctor immune from making mistakes. There are several cases where the most respected or very highly qualified doctor has made a mistake due to carelessness or negligence, and the patient has suffered significant injuries.
Just because of his high qualifications like a board certification, does not make the doctor immune from being sued for his wrongdoing. In fact, the jury might feel that because of his high qualifications he should have been able to take more care and adhered to the accepted standards of medical care. This is only logical.
When you file a medical malpractice case against a board certified doctor, your lawyer will have to show the jury how the doctor violated the basic standards of medical care, and due to that you suffered significant amount of injury and harm. Even the highest qualified doctor does not have immunity from medical malpractice lawsuits. Of course, the plaintiff will have to show what happened and how the doctor deviated from the basic standard of care.
