10 Top Books On Medical Malpractice Settlement

How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who finds an object foreign to the body such as surgical clamps within her body after gall bladder surgery could file a lawsuit for medical negligence. A successful claim must establish the legal aspects of medical malpractice law firms (calm-shadow-f1b9.626266613.Workers.dev) negligence: duty, deviation from this duty, direct causes, and injury.

Our clients must establish a direct connection between the breach of duty and the injury. This is referred to as proximate cause.

Cause of Injury

A medical malpractice claim may be filed by the injured person or a legal representative. Based on the circumstances, this may be the spouse of the patient, an adult child or parent, a guardian ad litem or the administrator or executor of the estate of the patient who died. The plaintiff in a medical malpractice suit is the health care provider. This could be a doctor, nurse or therapist, or any other licensed health care professional.

Expert testimony is often required in malpractice cases. Medical experts are required to testify on whether or the medical professional adhered to the standards of care for their particular area of expertise. They also need to testify on the harm caused by the doctor's actions or inactions.

Injuries caused by negligence and malpractice can be severe. A misdiagnosis can have serious consequences, including life-threatening conditions. Other types of injuries could include operating on the wrong body part or leaving instruments inside the patient during surgery.

The patient must prove four legal elements in a malpractice claim that include a duty owed to the patient by the doctor and a breach of that duty; injury caused by the breach; and resulting damages. In certain states, like New York the law limits the amount of money awarded in a malpractice case.

Causation

The injury element, also referred to as causation, is one of the most important elements in medical malpractice cases. To prove causation, a plaintiff must demonstrate that they sustained their injury based on a balance of probabilities because of the negligence of a physician. This is a challenging task due to a variety of reasons.

Many of the injuries that form the basis of a medical negligence suit result from long-term or ongoing illnesses that existed before treatment began. Often, the statute of limitations for a medical negligence claim extends out over a number of years and the injuries may develop slowly.

In these instances, proving that a medical professional's violation of the standard of care that led to the injury is difficult. However, the person who was harmed could be able to make use of evidence collected by the attorney, including medical documents and expert testimony.

During the discovery process as part of the legal process for the preparation of a trial your lawyer may request that the lawyers for the defendants be made aware of expert testimony and other documents. The doctor defending the lawsuit is then required to testify in a deposition, which is testimony that is under the oath. Your lawyer can challenge doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will decide whether the plaintiff has substantiated the elements of the case including breach of duty and causation.

Negligence

If a medical malpractice lawsuit is filed the plaintiff must to convince the jury that it was more likely than not that the physician committed a breach of professional duties and that the breaches resulted in harm. The attorney representing the plaintiff must demonstrate this through evidence gathered during discovery. This involves seeking documents, such as medical records, from all parties involved in a lawsuit. This also includes sworn statements that are recorded and used in trial.

A doctor violated his or her professional obligations in the event that he or her did something that a reasonably prudent physician would not do under similar circumstances. It must be proved that the breach was the cause of the injury directly to the patient. This is known as causation or proximate cause. A patient might go to the hospital in order to have a hernia fixed, but end up having their gall bladder removed. This is medical negligence as the procedure was not beneficial to the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a legal period, referred to as the statute of limitations. This differs from state to state. The victim must demonstrate that the treatment was substandard and resulted in injury, and after that they have to prove the amount of compensation they deserve.

Damages

If medical negligence has led you to suffer an injury, you are entitled to be made whole. Scaffidi & Associates can help you receive full and fair compensation for your losses.

The first step in a lawsuit is to file and serve a complaint as well as summons and medical malpractice law firms other documents on all defendants. The parties then proceed to discovery, a process by which documents and statements are disclosed under the oath. Medical records and the notes of a doctor are typically requested during discovery.

In most states, you need to demonstrate four elements in order to be compensated for injuries incurred by medical malpractice: a duty owed by the healthcare provider and a breach of the obligation; a causal connection between the breach and the injury suffered by the patient as well as damages that result from the injury. If your lawyer can demonstrate all of these aspects of a medical negligence claim, you will have an enviable case.

In certain cases the court can decide to award punitive damages that is intended to punish the wrongdoer and deter others from engaging in similar crimes. However, this isn't the norm in medical malpractice cases, as courts require evident proof of malice in order to give these extraordinary awards.