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Medical Malpractice Litigation
Medical malpractice litigation can be complex and time-consuming. Both plaintiffs and defendants are also obliged to pay a significant cost.
In order to obtain the financial compensation sought in a malpractice lawsuit, an injured patient must prove that substandard medical treatment caused injury. This requires establishing four elements of law which include professional obligation and breach of this duty, injury and damages.
Discovery
The most crucial aspect of a case involving medical negligence is the gathering of evidence. This can be done via written interrogatories, or requests for documents. Interrogatories comprise of questions that the opposing side must answer under oath, and are used to establish facts that can be presented at trial. Requests for documents can be used to get tangible documents, such as medical records and test results.
In many cases your attorney will record the deposition of the defendant's physician, which is a recorded session of questions and answers. This permits your attorney to ask the witness or physician questions that would not be allowed during trial. It can be very beneficial in cases involving experts as witnesses.
The information gathered during discovery before trial will be used to support your claim at trial.
Infractions to the standard of care
Injury resulting from a violation of the standard of care
Proximate causation
A doctor's failure to use the competence and expertise of doctors in their area of specialization, and which proximately resulted in injury to the patient
Mediation
While medical malpractice cases are sometimes essential, they also have major disadvantages for both parties. For plaintiffs, the stress, expense, and the commitment to trial can have a negative psychological impact on them. For defendant health professionals trial may result in humiliation and loss of credibility. It could also have negative effects on their career as well as practice since the financial payments they receive as part of a settlement before trial are reported to national databases for practitioners and to the state medical licensing body, and medical society.
Mediation is a cost-effective and time-efficient method to settle cases of medical negligence. By avoiding the cost of trial and avoiding the possibility of erosion of jury verdicts allows both parties to be more flexible in their settlement negotiations.
Before mediation, both sides provide the mediator with brief details about the case (a "mediation brief"). In this stage, parties will usually communicate through their lawyer and not directly with one another. Direct communication can be used as evidence against them in court. As the mediation process progresses it is a good idea for you to focus on your case's strengths, and be ready to acknowledge your case's weaknesses. This will assist the mediator to bridge any gaps in understanding and provide you with a reasonable offer.
Trial
The aim of tort reformers is to devise an insurance system that compensates people who suffer injuries due to physician negligence in a timely fashion and at a reasonable cost. Many states have adopted tort reform measures to lower costs and stop the filing of frivolous claims for medical malpractice lawsuit malpractice.
Most physicians in the United States have malpractice insurance as a way to protect themselves from accusations of professional negligence. Some of these policies may be required by a medical or hospital group to obtain access to.
To claim compensation for injuries caused due to negligence of a medical professional, the patient who has suffered injury must prove that the physician did not meet the standards of care applicable to the profession in which they practice. This is referred to as proximate causation, and is an essential element in a medical malpractice case.
A lawsuit is initiated when an order for civil summons is filed with the appropriate court. After that the parties must both engage in a process of disclosure. This involves written interrogatories as well as the issuance of documents such as medical record. Depositions (in which lawyers question witnesses under an oath), and requests for admission are also involved.
The burden of proving a medical malpractice case is very high and the damages awarded will take into consideration the actual economic loss like lost income and the expense of future medical expenses and non-economic losses like suffering and pain. It is crucial to work with an experienced attorney when seeking a medical malpractice claim.
Settlement
Medical malpractice cases are resolved through settlement. In general, the actual dollar value of a case is negotiated between the plaintiff and the defendants (often through or alongside the defendant's malpractice/professional liability insurer). The result is a check for the injured patient, which is given to the plaintiff's lawyer who then deposits it into an escrow account. The lawyer subtracts the legal fees and medical malpractice case expenses in accordance with the representation agreement. Then, he pays the injured patients settlement.
To win a medical malpractice case, the patient who is suffering from it must establish that a physician or other healthcare provider had a duty to care, breached that duty by failing to perform the required level of knowledge and expertise in their field, that in the proximate consequence of that breach, the victim sustained injuries, and that these injuries are measurable by the amount of money lost.
The United States has a system of 94 federal district courts, which are the equivalent of state trial courts. And each court has a judge and jury panel which hears cases. In some instances, a medical malpractice case could be transferred to one of these courts. Physicians in the United States typically carry medical malpractice insurance to protect themselves from claims of accidental harm or wrongdoing. Doctors must be aware of structure and workings of our legal system to react appropriately if a claim is brought against them.
