How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who finds an object that is foreign, for example, surgical clamps inside her body after gall bladder surgery is able to file a lawsuit for medical negligence. A successful claim must demonstrate the elements of medical malpractice: duty, deviation from the duty, and direct reason.

It is crucial for our clients to establish a direct causal connection between the breach of duty and the resulting injury called proximate causation.

Causes of Injury

A medical malpractice case can be filed by the injured patient or by a person legally appointed to represent them. This can be the spouse, adult child guardian, parent or administrator of a deceased patient's estate, based on the circumstances. The defendant in a lawsuit for medical malpractice is the health care provider. This could be a nurse, doctor, therapist or any other licensed health care professional.

The majority of cases involving malpractice involve many expert witnesses. Medical experts are required to be able to testify that the medical professional performed his duties in accordance with the standard of treatment in their specific area of expertise. They also need to testify on the harm caused by the physician's actions or inactions.

Injuries caused by negligence and malpractice can be severe. A misdiagnosis could have grave consequences, like a life-threatening condition. Other kinds of injuries include performing surgery on the wrong body part or putting instruments inside the patient during surgery.

In order to establish a malpractice case the patient must prove four legal elements: a duty that the doctor owed them; a breach in this duty, resulting injury; and damages. In some states, such as new boston medical malpractice lawsuit York, the law puts a limit on amount of money that can be awarded in an action for malpractice.

Causation

The injury element is also known as the causation. It is one of the most crucial elements in a leland medical malpractice Attorney negligence claim. To prove causation, a plaintiff must show that they suffered their injury on the basis of probabilities due to due to the negligence of the doctor. This can be a challenging task for a number of reasons.

For example, many injuries that are the cause of a medical negligence lawsuit stem from long-term, or ongoing conditions that were present prior to treatment. The time limit for medical malpractice cases can be extended over the course of several years and injuries may develop slowly.

In these instances it is difficult to prove that a medical professional's failure to adhere to the standard of care that led to the injury is not easy. However, the patient who is afflicted might be able use evidence collected by the attorney, like medical records and expert testimony.

In the discovery process which is an element of the legal process for the preparation of a trial your lawyer may request that the lawyers of the defendants provide expert testimony and other documents. The doctor who is defending the case will be required to give deposition. This is a statement which is under an oath. Your lawyer is able to cross-examine doctor and contest their findings. The jury will then decide if the plaintiff has proved the necessary elements of their case, including the duty of care, breach, causation and injury.

Negligence

If a claim for medical malpractice is filed in court, the plaintiff must to convince the jury that it was more likely than not that the physician did not perform his or her professional duties and that the breached duties caused harm. The plaintiff's lawyer must prove this using evidence gathered through pre-trial discovery, which involves requesting disclosure of documents including medical records from all parties who are involved in the lawsuit. This also includes the recording of sworn statements and used in trial.

A doctor breached his or her professional duty when he or she did something that a reasonably prudent doctor would not do in the same circumstances. It must be proved that the breach resulted in injury directly to the patient. This is known as causation or proximate causes. A patient could visit the hospital to have a hernia repaired, and instead, have their gall bladder removed. This is medical malpractice as the removal of the gall bladder did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a specific legal time limit, known 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 her deserves.

Damages

You should be compensated for any injuries you've suffered due to medical negligence. Scaffidi & Associates can help you receive a fair and complete compensation for your losses.

The first step is filing and serving a complaint and [Redirect-302] summons on all named defendants in the lawsuit. The parties then participate in discovery, a process in which documents and statements are disclosed under oath. Medical records and doctor's notes are typically requested during discovery.

In most states, in order to receive compensation for injuries sustained by malpractice, you have to establish four elements including a duty of good faith that the healthcare provider is obligated to perform, a breach of this obligation; a causal connection between the breach and injury; and damages caused by the injury. If your attorney can demonstrate all of these elements in a medical malpractice claim, you will have a strong case.

In certain instances the court can give punitive damages, which is meant to punish the wrongdoer and discourage others from committing similar crimes. However, this is not the norm in medical malpractice cases since courts require evident proof of malice in order to award these extraordinary awards.