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How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A patient who believes he or she is suffering a loss as the result of the negligence of a healthcare provider can file a medical malpractice lawsuit. These lawsuits differ from the typical personal injury lawsuits by using the professional standard of care to determine the degree of negligence.

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

Duty of care

A surgeon, doctor or nurse, or any other health care professional, has a duty of care. This legal concept states that any health professional who treats you is required to follow the accepted medical procedures.

The medical standard of care is the legal standard against which all medical malpractice claims are weighed. It is crucial to a successful claim, because it offers a specific method to allow the injured person and their attorney to establish negligence by proving that a medical professional failed to adhere to the standards of care.

Proving that this standard of care is met often requires the help of a qualified medical expert witness. They are essential in establishing the standard of medical care that applies to the case and also determining how defendants allegedly did not meet that standard.

It is also necessary to show that this breach of duty directly caused your injury, illness or death. In medical malpractice cases, damages can include hospital expenses, lost income and future earning capacity, suffering, pain and even punitive damages. Your lawyer must prove the exact amount of these damages, which could be greater than your initial medical expenses. This is a little easier in certain situations than in other. There are many doctors who work in hospitals that provide them with staff privileges, and in those situations, a physician's employer may be held responsible by virtue of theories of vicarious liability.

Breach of duty

A doctor is bound by an obligation to act in accordance with the medical standards of care when providing treatment or Medical Malpractice services. If a physician fails to fulfill that duty and suffers injury an injured patient could seek compensation for malpractice.

Medical negligence could refer to various actions, for example, mistakes in diagnosis, medication dosage, health management, treatments and aftercare. In order for a lawsuit to be valid the plaintiff must show four legal elements. These include:

First, there must be an established doctor-patient relationship. The physician must have the obligation of informing the patient of any risks or complications involved in the procedure. Even if the procedure was done correctly, the doctor could be held accountable for their actions in the event they fail to warn the patient. For example, if the doctor failed to inform patients that a certain operation had the possibility of losing 30% limbs, a patient could not have reasonably consented to the procedure.

The second aspect to be proved is an infraction to the standard of care. To demonstrate that the doctor's actions were different from the standard of care, the lawyer will need expert witness testimony. It must also be proven that the breach of standard of care caused the patient's injuries.

The court system can be slow in settling medical negligence cases. This is due to the fact that it requires many hours of time by the physician and attorney, in addition to extensive research, interviews with experts, and a thorough study of medical and legal literature. A physician who faces a malpractice suit will have to pay high court costs, attorney costs and work products, as well as expenses for expert testimony.

Causation

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are humans and they make mistakes. When these errors reach the level of negligence, patients could suffer serious and life-changing injuries. Proving that a healthcare provider committed a breach of his or their duty and caused injury requires legal and medical expertise. A successful case requires four legal elements to prove such as a relationship between a doctor and patient as well as the duty of a doctor to duty of care to the patient, the doctor's failure to fulfill this duty, and then the harm caused by the breach.

It is also necessary to prove that the doctor's deviance from the standard of care was the direct and primary cause of injury. The legal standard for this aspect is higher than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" required in criminal cases. The plaintiff's lawyer must convince the jury/fact-finder that it is more than likely that negligence of the physician caused the injury.

An expert medical witness is often required early in the process to establish all of these factors. Under Rhode Island law, only doctors with the right education, training, experience, expertise, and knowledge in the field of the claimed malpractice can provide an expert testimony in the matter. It is for this reason that choosing a medical malpractice attorney expert who is skilled is important in a malpractice case.

Damages

A medical malpractice lawsuit is designed to collect damages, which include the past and future expenses resulting from an injury. These costs could include hospital bills, doctor's visits, pain and discomfort, and lost wages. The amount of damages to be awarded is determined by a jury by the evidence presented.

During the trial the plaintiff or their attorney must prove four key legal elements: (1) a physician was obligated to perform a professional obligation; (2) the doctor violated that duty by acting negligently; (3) the doctor's negligence caused injuries; and (4) the damage caused by the injury was quantifiable. The performance of a doctor is not considered to be malpractice if you're unhappy with it. But, there must be a repercussion. A professional witness can help to clarify whether a doctor did not follow the standard of care.

The legal process of a malpractice case can last for a long time, with a lot of time spent in "discovery," which involves the exchange of documents and statements that are oath-taking by the parties involved in the case. A majority of cases are settled before they even reach the courtroom. However, a small percentage of these claims get to the trial stage for jury.

To reduce costs of litigation, certain states have taken a variety of administrative and legislative actions, known collectively as tort reform measures, to reduce the liability for malpractice. In addition, a few states have implemented alternative dispute resolution strategies like binding arbitration that is voluntary. The goal of these alternatives to civil litigation is to reduce costs of litigation and speed up process of settling malpractice claims while removing juries that are too generous and screening out frivolous medical claims.