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How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A patient who believes that he or she suffered a loss as the result of an error made by a medical professional is able to file a medical malfeasance lawsuit. These cases differ from other personal injury claims in that they use a professional standard of care to determine negligence.

In the United States, claims of malpractice are handled by state trial courts. Each state has its own laws and procedures.

Duty of care

A surgeon, doctor or other health care professional is required to provide care to their patients. This legal principle states that every health professional who treats you is required to adhere to the accepted medical practice.

The medical standard of care is a legal yardstick by which any medical malpractice claim is judged. It is crucial to a successful lawsuit, because it provides an exact method to allow the injured person and their attorney to establish negligence by proving that a health care professional did not adhere to the standard of care.

A qualified medical expert is often needed to prove this standard of care. Experts like these are crucial to establishing the relevant medical standard of care, and also determining how that standard was breached by the defendants in a medical malpractice case.

It is also essential to show that this breach of duty was the cause of your injury, illness or death. In medical malpractice cases, damages often include hospital bills as well as loss of income and earning capacity, pain and suffering, lost quality of life and even punitive damages. Your lawyer must demonstrate the amount of damages you are entitled to, which could be more than your initial medical malpractice lawyers costs. In some instances this is less difficult than in others. A lot of doctors work in hospitals that offer them staff privileges, and in those instances, the doctor's employer could be held accountable under theories of vicarious responsibility.

Breach of duty

A doctor is bound by an obligation to act in accordance with medical standards of care when delivering services or treatments. Patients who are injured due to negligence of a doctor can bring a malpractice lawsuit.

Medical negligence can be a result of various actions, including erroneous diagnosis, dosage of medications, health management, treatment and post-treatment. For a lawsuit to be valid the plaintiff must show four legal elements. These include:

First, there has to be a relationship between the doctor and patient. The physician has an obligation to inform the patient of any risks or potential complications that could arise from the procedure. Even if the procedure was executed correctly, the doctor could be held accountable for their actions if they fail to inform the patient. If the doctor did not inform the patient that a particular procedure was likely to have a 30% chance of causing loss of limbs, then the patient could not have agreed to it.

The next thing to be proven is a breach in the standard of care. To do this, the lawyer has to be able to present expert testimony to establish that the physician deviated from the standard of care. In addition, it must be established that the breach caused the patient's injury.

It can take a long time to settle medical negligence claims in the court system. It involves a significant amount of doctor and attorney time, thorough review of the records, interviewing experts and research into the legal and medical literature. A physician who is the subject of a malpractice lawsuit must to pay high court fees including attorney costs, work products, as well as expenses for expert testimony.

Causation

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are individuals and they make mistakes. If those errors rise to the level of medical malpractice, patients suffer serious and even life-changing injuries. Proving that a medical provider committed a breach of his or duty and caused injury requires both legal and medical expertise. A successful claim requires four legal elements to be proven such as a relationship between a doctor and patient, the doctor's duty of care towards the patient, the breach of this duty, and the harm that resulted from the breach.

The injury must be proven to have been caused by the doctor's deviance from the standard of medical care. This element has a higher legal standard than "beyond reasonable doubt" in criminal cases. The lawyer representing the plaintiff must convince the jury/fact-finder that it is more than likely that negligence by the doctor caused the injury.

An expert medical witness is typically required at the beginning of the process to establish all of these elements. According to Rhode Island law only doctors with a sufficient degree of education, training and experience in the area of the claimed malpractice can provide expert testimony. This is the reason that selecting an expert in medical practice who is competent is so important in a malpractice case.

Damages

A medical malpractice lawsuit aims to recover damages that include future and past costs associated with an injury. These expenses could include hospital bills doctors' visits, hospital bills, pain and suffering and lost wages. The jury will decide the amount of damages to be awarded by examining the evidence.

The plaintiff or their lawyer must prove four legal aspects during the trial: (1) the physician was obligated to them; (2) the doctor breached this duty by negligence; (3) the doctor’s negligence caused injuries; (4) the injury led to measurable damages. A doctor's work is not a breach of professional standards if you're dissatisfied with it. However there must be a repercussion. A medical professional can determine whether a physician has deviated from standard medical practice.

The legal process for a malpractice claim may last for many years. This is because "discovery" involves the exchange of documents, and sworn statements from the parties involved. A majority of cases are settled before they reach the courtroom. However, a tiny amount of these claims are able to proceed to the stage of trial for a jury.

To reduce costs associated with litigation, some states have enacted a variety of administrative and legislative actions, collectively referred to as tort reform measures, to reduce liability for negligence. Some states have also implemented alternative dispute resolution systems like binding arbitration. These alternatives to civil litigation are designed to lower cost of litigation, speed up process of settling malpractice claims, avoid overly generous juries, and screen out claims that are not worth the effort.