What determines medical malpractice & does this man really have case?

He was in a car accident & suffered a knee injury. He was sent to the ER via the ambulance. When there he told the doctor about the knee injury but the doctor never did any X-rays claiming the guy was too healthy. The doctor said that the knee would be sore but would heel in a few weeks & that the man can return to work the next day. After about 5 weeks the knee was much worse & the man goes to another doctor, this doctor orders test & it is found that the knee is injuried badly enough to require surgery. This new doctor asked why the ER never did Xrays & thinks that the injury would have heel with proper treatment (physical thepary) & if given proper rest (days/weeks off work) The new doctor states that the ER doctor neglected to do his job properly. Now this man thinks he has a medical malpractice case.

Whether he has a case hinges on what any reasonable and prudent doctor would have done when presented with his injury following the accident. If any decent doctor would have done x-rays, then there may be a case. However, if your friend was walking, claimed the pain wasn't too bad, and so on, then a reasonable and prudent action might have been to wait and see if it improved without medical intervention, as many minor injuries do.

The upshot is, he needs to contact an attorney, with his medical files in hand.

he could claim negligence. however if the ER doc was working within his scope of employment, then he has no case. doctors work to the best of their knowledge, and they are human like everyone else. there are tons of ridiculous malpractice claims out there, but this guy may have something. i doubt the ER doc claimed that he was "too healthy" to require xrays, although the only thing to prove this would be to look at his chart from the day of his visit. he should talk with an attorney that specializes in med malpractice.