Medical Malpractice Litigation
Medical malpractice litigation can be lengthy and complicated. It is also costly for both the plaintiff and defendant.
In order to win an award of money in a malpractice lawsuit, an injured patient must prove that substandard medical treatment led to injury. This involves establishing four legal elements that include a professional duty and breach of that duty, injury, and resulting damages.
Discovery
One of the most crucial aspects of a medical malpractice case is obtaining evidence via written interrogatories and requests for the production of documents. Interrogatories are questions that must be answered under oath by the opposing party to the lawsuit. They are used to establish facts to be used in trial. Requests for documents to be produced allow for tangible items to be obtained such as medical records or test results.
In many cases, your attorney will take the defendant physician's deposition that is an audio recording of a question and answer session. This permits your attorney to ask the witness or doctor questions that wouldn't be permitted at trial. It can be extremely beneficial in cases that involve experts as witnesses.
The information gathered during pretrial discovery is used at trial to prove the following aspects of your claim:
Infractions to the standard of care
Injuries that result from a violation of the standard of care
Proximate cause
A doctor's inability to utilize the knowledge and skill held by doctors in their area of specialization, and which proximately resulted in injury to the patient
Mediation
While medical malpractice trials are sometimes necessary, they have significant drawbacks for both sides. For plaintiffs the pressure, cost, and the commitment to trial can cause psychological harm on them. A trial can result in humiliation and loss of prestige for defendant health care professionals. It can also have negative effects on their career as well as practice, since the monetary payments they receive as part of settlements prior to trial are recorded in national databases of practitioner, state medical licensing board, and medical societies.
Mediation is a cheaper and time-efficient option to settle an issue involving medical malpractice. The parties can negotiate more freely since they do not have the expense of a trial, as well as the potential for jury verdicts to be eroded.
Before mediation, both sides are required to provide the mediator with a brief of information on the case (a "mediation brief"). In this stage, parties will usually communicate through their lawyer, and not directly with each other. Direct communication can be used as evidence against them in court. When the mediation process is in progress it is a good idea for you to focus on your case's strengths, and be ready to acknowledge your case's weaknesses. This will enable the mediator to solve any gaps in understanding and offer you a reasonable offer.
Trial
Reformers of the tort system are seeking to create an insurance system that compensates people injured by physician negligence quickly and without a lot of expense. While this isn't easy some states have enacted tort reform measures in order to lower costs and prevent frivolous medical malpractice claims.
The majority of doctors in the United States have malpractice insurance to protect themselves from claims of professional negligence. Certain of these policies are required to be carried out as a condition of hospital privileges or employment within a medical company.
To be compensated for injuries caused by the negligence of a medical professional the patient who has suffered injury must prove that the doctor's actions did not meet the standard of care that is applicable to his or her profession. This concept is called proxy causation and is a key element in a medical malpractice case.
A lawsuit starts by filing a civil summons or complaint in the appropriate court. After this, both parties must engage in a process of disclosure. This involves written interrogatories and the production of documents like medical records. Depositions are also involved (deponents are challenged by attorneys under an oath) and admission requests which are declarations that one side would like the other side to admit in total or in part.
The burden of proof in a medical malpractice case is extremely high. The damages awarded are based on the actual economic loss, such as lost earnings and the expense of future medical expenses as well as non-economic losses, such pain and suffering. If you are pursuing a claim for
medical malpractice lawyer malpractice, it's essential to work with a skilled lawyer.
Settlement
Settlements are the most commonly used way to resolve
medical malpractice lawsuits. In general, the actual dollar value of a case is negotiated between the plaintiff and the defendants (often through or alongside the defendant's malpractice/professional liability insurer). The patient who is injured receives an amount of money, which is paid to the plaintiff lawyer, who deposits it in an escrow account. The lawyer will then deduct the case expenses and legal costs as per the representation agreement, and then provides the injured person with compensation.
To win a medical negligence case, an aggrieved patient must demonstrate that a doctor or other healthcare provider owed them a duty of care, but breached this duty by failing perform the required level of knowledge and competence in their field, that in the proximate consequence of that breach, the victim sustained injuries, and that those injuries are quantifiable in terms of financial loss.
The United States has a system of 94 federal district courts, which are essentially state trial courts, and each court has jurors and a judge that decides on cases. In certain situations a medical negligence case could be transferred to one of these federal district courts. In the United States, physicians carry medical malpractice insurance as a way to safeguard themselves against claims of injury that was not intended. Physicians need to understand the structure and workings of our legal system in order to respond appropriately if a claim is brought against them.