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 is able to sue for medical negligence. A successful lawsuit must prove the legal elements of medical negligence: duty, deviance from this duty, direct causes, and injury.

Our clients must establish a direct connection between the breach of duty and the injury. This is known as the proximate reason.

Cause of Injury

A medical malpractice claim can be filed by the injured patient or a person legally designated to act on their behalf. Depending on the circumstances, this could be a spouse of the patient or an adult child, parent, a guardian ad-litem or administrator or executor of the estate of the patient who died. In a case involving medical malpractice, the defendant is the health care provider. This could be a nurse, doctor or therapist, or any other licensed health professional.

Malpractice cases typically involve many expert witnesses. Medical experts must determine if the health care provider performed his duties in accordance with the standard of treatment in their particular field of expertise. They must also testify as to the harm caused by the actions or inactions of a doctor.

Injuries resulting from malpractice and negligence can be extremely serious. For instance, a wrong diagnosis of a health issue could have life-threatening effects. Other kinds of injuries include operating on the wrong body part or putting instruments inside the patient during surgery.

The patient must establish four legal elements in a malpractice claim that include a duty owed to the patient by the physician; a breach of this obligation; an injury resulting by the breach and the consequential damages. In some states, such as New York, the law sets a limit on the amount of money that could be awarded in an injury resulting from a malpractice claim.

Causation

The element of injury is called the causation. It is one of most important elements in a medical negligence claim. To establish causation, the plaintiff must show that they sustained the injury based on a balance of probabilities as a result of the negligence of a physician. This can be a difficult task due to a variety reasons.

Many of the injuries that are the basis for a medical negligence lawsuit result from long-term conditions or ongoing issues that existed before treatment started. The statute of limitations on a medical malpractice lawsuit can be extended over the course of several years and the development of injuries can happen slowly.

In these instances it can be difficult to prove that one particular medical professional's failure to adhere to the standard of care led to the injury. The attorney could have gathered evidence, Vimeo.Com such as medical records and expert testimony, that the injured patient may use.

During the discovery process, which is a component of the legal procedure preparing for trial, your lawyer could request disclosure of expert testimony as well as other documents from lawyers of the defendants. The doctor who is defending the lawsuit is then asked to give evidence during depositions, which are testimony under oath. Your lawyer can challenge the doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will decide if the plaintiff has proven the facts of the case which include breach of duty, breach and causation.

Negligence

If a medical malpractice lawsuit is filed, the plaintiff will have to convince the jury that it was more likely than not that the doctor violated professional obligations and that those breaches caused injuries. The plaintiff's lawyer has to prove this using evidence gathered through pretrial discovery, which includes requesting disclosure of documents including brewer medical malpractice lawyer records from all parties who are involved in the lawsuit. Depositions, wherein statements are made under oath and recorded for use at trial, are also a part of this procedure.

A doctor was in breach of the professional duties of a doctor when he or she did something that a reasonable prudent doctor would not do in the same circumstances. However, it must be proven that the breach directly caused injury to the patient. This is referred to as causation or proximate causes. Patients may visit a hospital to have a hernia fixed, and instead, have their gall bladder removed. This is medical negligence as the procedure did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice suits must be filed within a legal period, referred to as the statute of limitations. This differs from state-to-state. The injured patient must establish that the negligent care caused injury and then prove how much monetary compensation he or she deserves.

Damages

If medical negligence has led you to sustain an injury, you have the right to be made whole. At Scaffidi & Associates, we will assist you in receiving the full and fair compensation for your loss.

The first step in a lawsuit is to file and serve a complaint, summons and other documents on all defendants. The parties then begin discovery, a process in which documents and statements are made public under the oath. Medical records and doctor's notes are typically requested during discovery.

In most states, in order to get compensation for injuries caused by malpractice, you need to prove four things including a duty of good faith due to the healthcare provider and a breach of that obligation; a causal connection between the breach and injury; and damages caused by the injury. If your attorney can prove all of these aspects of a medical negligence claim, you'll have a strong case.

In certain cases the court can decide to award punitive damages. These are intended to punish the perpetrator and discourage others from committing the same offense. This isn't often, however, in medical malpractice cases. The courts must have very clear evidence of malice before they can award these extraordinary damages.