Why Medical Malpractice Settlement Might Be Your Next Big Obsession

How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who discovers that an object that is foreign, such as surgical clamps, remains in her body after gall bladder surgery can file a medical malpractice lawsuit. A successful lawsuit must prove the legal elements of medical negligence: duty, deviance from this obligation, direct cause and injury.

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

Causes of Injury

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed either by the injured person or a legal representative. Depending on the circumstances this may be the spouse of the patient, an adult child or parent, a guardian ad litem or the executor or administrator of the estate of the deceased patient. The plaintiff in a medical malpractice suit is the health care provider. It could be a licensed nurse, doctor or therapist.

Expert testimony is often required in malpractice cases. Medical experts are required to be able to testify that the healthcare provider was acting in accordance with the standards of care in their particular field of expertise. They must also testify regarding the injury that was caused by the doctor's actions or inactions.

Injury caused by negligence and mistakes can be catastrophic. A misdiagnosis could have grave consequences, including the possibility of a life-threatening illness. Other types of injuries could include operating on the wrong body part or Medical Malpractice Lawsuit leaving instruments inside the patient during surgery.

The patient must prove four legal elements of a malpractice claim: a duty owed to the patient by the doctor or a breach of the obligation; a harm caused by the breach; and the consequential damages. In certain states like New York the law limits the amount of money that can be awarded for a malpractice case.

Causation

The injury element is known as the causation. It is one of the most crucial aspects of a medical malpractice claim. To establish causation, the plaintiff must prove that they sustained the injury on a balance of probabilities due to of the negligence of a physician. This can be a challenging task due to a variety reasons.

Many injuries that are the basis of medical negligence lawsuits result from chronic issues that existed before treatment started. The statute of limitations on a medical malpractice case can be extended for a number of years and injuries may develop slowly.

In these cases, it is difficult to prove that a specific medical professional's breach of the standard of care caused the injury. However, the patient who was hurt may be able to use evidence collected by the attorney, including medical malpractice attorneys documents and expert testimony.

During the discovery procedure which is an element of the legal process for prepping for a trial your attorney can request that the lawyers representing the defendants disclose expert testimony and other documents. The doctor who is representing the case will be asked to take a deposition. This is a testimony that is made under oath. Your lawyer may cross-examine the doctor and challenge their conclusions. The jury will decide if the plaintiff has proven that the allegations of the case are true which include breach of duty, breach and causation.

Negligence

If a medical malpractice lawsuit is filed in court, the plaintiff must to convince the jury that it was more likely than not that the physician committed a breach of professional duties and those breaches resulted in injuries. The attorney representing the plaintiff must be able to prove this by utilizing evidence gathered during pretrial discovery. This includes soliciting documents, including medical records as well as other documents from all parties in the lawsuit. The process also involves swearing statements that are recorded and used in trial.

A doctor violated his or her professional obligations when he/she did something that a reasonably prudent physician would not do in the same circumstances. It must be established that the breach was the cause of the injury directly to the patient. This is known as causation or the proximate cause. A patient may visit a hospital to have a hernia fixed, but end up having their gall bladder removed. This is medical malpractice since the removal of the gall bladder did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a legal period, referred to as the statute of limitations. This differs from state-to-state. The victim must prove that the care provided was substandard and caused injury, and then demonstrate the amount of compensation he or she is entitled to.

Damages

If medical negligence has caused you to sustain an injury, you should be compensated. Scaffidi & Associates can help you get fair and complete compensation for your losses.

The first step in a lawsuit is to make a complaint and serve it as well as summons and other documents on all defendants. The parties then engage in discovery. It is a process where documents and statements are presented under an oath. Medical records and the notes of a doctor are typically requested during discovery.

In most states, you have to prove four things to be compensated for injuries caused by medical malpractice which includes a duty to the healthcare provider and a breach of that duty; a causal connection between the breach and the patient's injury and the damages that result from the injury. If your attorney can demonstrate all of these elements in a medical malpractice attorneys malpractice claim, you'll have an enviable case.

In some instances the court might decide to award punitive damages that is intended to penalize a wrongdoer and discourage others from committing similar conduct. This isn't often however, in medical malpractice cases. The courts must have clear evidence of malice before they are able to make these extraordinary awards.