Medical Malpractice Litigation: The Good The Bad And The Ugly

Four Elements of a Medical Malpractice Case

Physicians fear malpractice lawsuits as an actual threat. They can raise insurance costs for doctors and alter the way they practice medicine.

In general, doctors have obligations to their patients to adhere to accepted medical malpractice lawyer practices. This is known as the standard of care.

To successfully to sue a doctor for malpractice, an aggrieved patient must prove each of the following legal elements with a preponderance of evidence: duty; breach of that obligation; causation; damages.

Duty of Care

The primary element in a medical malpractice case is that the injured person was owed a duty of a doctor that was not met. Medical malpractice claims are different from other types of negligence cases in that they usually involve a physician-patient relationship, which can be established through documents from a doctor or phone consultations. In general, physicians who treat patients must adhere to the accepted standards in their profession and practice.

However, doctors could also be held accountable for the actions of their employees, such as assistants or interns. Furthermore, they can be held accountable for the actions of emergency medical personnel under their supervision.

The next thing that a plaintiff has to prove is that the defendant did not adhere to the standard of care in the particular circumstances. This is a fact that can be demonstrated by expert testimony regarding acceptable medical practices and the defendant's refusal to adhere to these standards. The second aspect of malpractice is that this breach directly caused injury to the patient. To prove that you have committed a crime, your lawyer will need to show that the breach of duty by the defendant directly caused your injury or death of your loved one. This is known as proximate reason. For instance, if negligent treatment alleged to have caused the injury would not have had a negative effect on your health regardless whether it was performed or not, you won't be able to recover damages for medical malpractice lawsuit any injuries or wrongful deaths that were allegedly caused by the doctor's actions.

Breach of Duty

A doctor who does not fulfill their duty of care towards clients can be held liable for negligence. To win a medical malpractice case the victim must prove four elements: that a duty of care existed and that the doctor breached the obligation and the breach caused injuries, and then the injury caused damages. The first aspect of a medical malpractice lawsuit revolves around the standard of care, which is determined by expert testimony. The standard of care is the amount an "reasonably cautious" doctor would do under similar or similar circumstances.

A physician is in breach of this duty when he or she deviates from the norm of care while treating the patient. For instance, if a doctor breaks a patient's arm when he is not able to properly set the arm or fails to cast the broken arm. The doctor's infraction of this duty causes the injured arm to heal incorrectly, resulting in a complete or partial loss of use and monetary damages.

In most instances, medical malpractice lawsuits are filed in state trial courts. However under certain circumstances federal courts may also take on these cases. Each of the 94 federal district courts in the United States has a judge-jury panel that will hear medical malpractice cases. A majority of states have state courts that are specialized to handle these matters, medical malpractice Lawsuit albeit with different rules for court procedure than federal district courts.

Causation

A patient could be entitled compensation for damages if a physician fails to fulfill their obligation to avoid harm. A medical malpractice lawsuit could be brought up when a doctor chooses to perform a treatment that has risks and the patient would have declined the procedure if fully informed of the possible consequences.

The plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit must prove that the doctor did not act in accordance with accepted guidelines for practice, and that the failure was the primary cause of the injury or illness that the patient was suffering from and that the injury could not have occurred if it weren't due to the negligence of the doctor. The burden of proof, referred to as "preponderance" of the evidence is less stringent than "beyond reasonable doubt" that is required to convict criminal defendants.

Medical malpractice lawsuits typically involve expert witnesses and lengthy pre-trial discovery hearings. If the case is settled or goes to trial, lawyers on both sides have to spend considerable time and resources in preparing for the trial. This is the primary reason why malpractice claims can be so costly to both the plaintiff and the medical professional involved, and it is one of the reasons that doctors and health care organizations support efforts to change tort law in the United States.

Damages

Victims can receive compensatory or punitive damages, based on the nature of medical negligence. Compensatory damages compensate patients for the financial losses and expenses caused by the negligence of a physician like loss of income or the cost of future medical care. Non-economic damages include compensation for physical pain as well as mental distress.

Medical malpractice claims are usually filed in a state trial court. However, there are certain situations in which a lawsuit may be filed in federal court. This is typically the case when a doctor is employed at an institution that is funded by federal funds such as the Veterans' Administration, or where the doctor is from a different country but is practicing in the United States under a treaty of extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are mostly adversarial and require large amounts of legal discovery. This includes depositions, written interrogatories, and requests for the production of documents. The victims of medical malpractice will also have to bear the stress of a jury trial and may risk being rejected by a judge or dismissed by jurors.

You must prove that medical negligence, or error was the cause of your injury in order to be awarded a lawsuit for medical malpractice. The injury has to be severe enough to warrant a financial award that covers your financial losses as well as emotional trauma. In addition, New York medical malpractice laws have damage caps, as well as other limitations on the amount that may be awarded to a person who successfully makes a claim.