What Is a Medical Malpractice Claim?
A medical malpractice case involves the patient complaining of carelessness of a healthcare worker. The patient, or his or his estate in the event of a deceased patient, must prove that the negligence caused injury or harm.
Legal actions claiming medical malpractice are usually filed in state trial courts. To win a lawsuit, the aggrieved party has to prove four elements of law:
Duty of care
In order to prove a legal claim, the plaintiff must show that he or she was in the position of being owed a duty by an individual or a company and that they failed to meet the obligation. In
Medical malpractice law firms malpractice cases this is the responsibility of doctors to provide the highest quality of care to their patients. Expert testimony is usually used to determine this.
Expert witnesses help determine the appropriate medical standards and then demonstrate how a doctor violated the standards in their treatment of the patient. A plaintiff's medical malpractice attorney must prove that the error was directly at fault for the injury suffered by the victim.
Expert testimony is crucial, as jurors are often not knowledgeable about anatomy and have seen a variety of medical dramas. In the case of medical malpractice, this is particularly important because it can be difficult to establish the standard of care. In a
medical malpractice lawsuit the standard refers the level of skill and care quality, as well as degree of diligence other doctors with similar specialties have under similar circumstances.
Typically, experts in medical malpractice cases are fellow surgeons or doctors who have the same training and board certifications. Due to the "conspiracy of silence" among many doctors (a term lawyers use to describe the tendency of doctors not to speak against one another) it is often difficult to find an expert with the qualifications to testify against a colleague regarding the care that is not up to par.
Breach of duty
Medical malpractice happens when a doctor makes an error that hurts the patient. These mistakes can cause new injuries or make preexisting ones worse. Medical malpractice claims are complicated legal issues and regulations, making them difficult to prove. A competent medical malpractice lawyer will evaluate your case to determine if the doctor has breached their duty to you.
Your attorney will establish a doctor-patient relation between you and your physician that is required to prove a malpractice claim. Your attorney will scrutinize the decisions and actions of your physician to determine if the standard of care in your state for doctors with similar training, backgrounds and geographical location is in place.
Physicians are required by their patients to follow these standards without deviation or omission. A breach of duty implies that the doctor failed to meet your expectations, and this has resulted in injury.
It is easy to prove an infraction of duty by using experts and your attorney's research. These experts can testify that the doctor's actions didn't meet the standard of medical care and explain why a different medical professional would have behaved differently in similar circumstances. Your lawyer must also connect the breach of duty with your injuries and damages. Your attorney will scrutinize your medical records, prescription and test results, imaging scans, and prescriptions to make an argument that the breach of duty committed by your physician directly caused your injuries.
Causation
Medical errors can increase the dangers of a wide range of treatments. To prove causation in a malpractice claim an injured patient must prove a direct connection between the alleged negligence and their injuries. In many cases this requires expert testimony and the help of a lawyer for medical malpractice.
For example, misdiagnosing a condition or a serious illness is a frequent medical error. If doctors fail to detect cancer or another condition, it can have severe consequences for the patient. In this case the patient could experience unnecessary suffering and even death. In failing to recognize the condition correctly, the doctor may have committed a lapse of judgment.
Proving that your doctor or hospital was negligent in the treatment you received is a lengthy and difficult process. Evidence could come from variety sources, such as medical records, test results, expert witness testimony and depositions. Your attorney can help you locate and interpret this evidence as well as represent you during the deposition process.
It is also important to know that only healthcare professionals can be sued for malpractice. Unlike receptionists at medical centers nurses and doctors are expected to act in accordance with the current standards of care. Medical professionals should have the ability to predict consequences based on his or qualifications and education.
Damages
In medical malpractice cases, courts will consider monetary compensations designed to pay injured patients. These types of damages can include future and past medical bills, lost wages, disfigurement and pain and loss of enjoyment of life. In certain cases the punitive damages may be awarded. These are reserved for particularly egregious conduct that society is interested in preventing.
A medical malpractice case typically begins with the filing of an civil summons and complaint in court. Then, the parties will engage in discovery, a process through which the plaintiff and defendants make statements under oath. This may include the exchange of documents such as medical records, taking depositions from parties who are involved in the lawsuit, and conducting interviews with witnesses.
In a medical malpractice claim it is essential to prove that the physician was legally obligated to provide treatment and care to the patient. The second part is that the doctor violated that duty by failing to adhere the medical standard of practice. The third factor is whether the breach resulted in injury to the patient.
It is important to remember that the statute of limitations (the legally defined time period within which a medical negligence claim must be filed) differs from state to state. In New York, there is a statute of limitations of two years and six months (30 months) following the date of the medical malpractice.