Ask Me Anything: 10 Responses To Your Questions About Medical Malpractice Litigation

Four Elements of a Medical Malpractice Case

Malpractice lawsuits are a serious and serious threat to doctors. They can increase the cost of insurance for physicians and change the way they practice medicine.

In general, doctors have a duty to their patients to adhere to accepted medical practices. This is referred to as the standard of care.

To sue a physician for malpractice, a patient has to be able to prove the following elements by a majority: breach of duty, duty of duty, causation, and damages.

Duty of Care

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

Doctors can also be held liable for the negligence or incompetence of their staff members, like assistants or interns. Furthermore, they can be held liable for the actions of emergency medical personnel under their supervision.

The plaintiff is then required to prove that the defendant's conduct did not adhere to the standard of medical care in the circumstances. This is a fact that can be demonstrated through expert testimony on acceptable medical practices and the defendant's inability to comply with these standards. The second aspect of malpractice is that this breach directly caused harm to the patient. To prove malpractice your lawyer needs to show that the defendant's breach of duty directly caused your injury or death of your loved one. This concept is known as the proximate cause. For instance, if the alleged negligent treatment wouldn't have had a negative impact on your health regardless whether it was executed or not, you would not be able to claim damages for any injuries or wrongful deaths that were caused by the doctor's actions.

Breach of Duty

A physician who fails in their obligation of care to clients can be held responsible for negligence. To win a medical malpractice lawsuit the person who suffered must demonstrate four elements: that there was a duty of medical care and the physician violated the obligation, that the breach caused injury and finally the injury caused damages. The first element of a medical malpractice lawsuit is the standard of care that is determined by expert testimony. The standard of care is defined as the things that would a "reasonably prudent" doctor would do in similar or similar circumstances.

A physician is in breach of this duty when he or she deviates from the normal care of the patient. For instance, if a physician breaks the arm of a patient the doctor isn't able to properly set it or fails to cast the broken arm. The doctor's breach of this duty causes the broken arm to heal improperly, resulting in the complete or partial loss of use and subsequent monetary damages.

In the majority of instances, medical malpractice lawsuits are filed with state trial courts. However under certain circumstances federal courts can hear these claims. The 94 federal district courts across the United States each have a judge and jury panel that is responsible for hearing these cases. A majority of states have state courts that specialize in these matters, albeit with different rules of procedure than federal district courts.

Causation

A patient could be entitled compensation for any damages suffered by doctors fail to fulfill their obligation to avoid harm. A medical malpractice law firm malpractice lawsuit could be brought up when a doctor decides to administer a procedure which has known risks and the patient would have opted to not undergo the procedure if they had been fully informed of the possible consequences.

The plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit must prove that the medical professional did not follow accepted standards of practice, that this failure was a direct cause for the injury or illness that the patient was suffering from and that the injury could not have occurred except because of the negligence of the doctor. This burden of proof, also known as "preponderance" of the evidence is less demanding than "beyond reasonable doubt" required to convict criminal defendants.

Medical malpractice lawsuits typically require expert testimony and lengthy pretrial discovery procedures. Both parties invest a lot of time and money the preparation of a case, whether it's settled or if it is a court case. This is one reason why malpractice claims can be so costly for both the plaintiff and the physician affected, and is one of the main reasons that doctors and health care organizations support efforts to reform tort law in the United States.

Damages

Victims may be awarded compensatory or punitive damages, based on the nature of medical negligence. Compensatory damages compensate the patient for the financial loss or expenses caused by the doctor's negligence. This includes income loss and future medical expenses. Non-economic damages are the payment of physical pain and mental anguish.

Medical malpractice claims are filed in state trial courts. There are instances when an action can be filed in federal courts. This is typically the case when doctors are employed by a clinic that is funded by federal funds, like the Veteran's administration, or if the doctor is from another country but is practicing in the United States as part of an agreement that confers extraterritorial authority.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are generally adversarial and require large amounts of legal discovery. This includes written interrogatories, depositions, as well as requests for documents. Patients who are accused of medical malpractice also may have to endure the stress of an open jury trial and could risk being rejected by a judge or dismissed by a jury.

You must prove that medical negligence, or error was the cause of the injury you suffered to win a claim for medical malpractice. The damage must be serious enough that a monetary award will substantially compensate for your financial losses and emotional pain. In addition, New York medical malpractice laws have certain damage caps as well as other limits on the amount that can be awarded to a person who is successful in filing a claim.