How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who finds an object foreign to her body, such as surgical clamps inside her body following gall bladder surgery can file a lawsuit for medical negligence. A successful lawsuit must prove the legal elements of medical negligence: duty, deviance from this obligation, direct cause and injury.

It is vital for our clients to establish a direct relationship between the breach of duty and the resulting injury, known as proximate causation.

Cause of Injury

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed by the injured person or a legal person to represent them. Based on the circumstances, this could be the spouse of the patient or an adult child parent, a guardian ad litem, or the executor or administrator of the estate of the patient who died. In a medical negligence case, the defendant is the health care provider. This could be an accredited doctor, nurse or therapist.

Expert testimony is typically required in cases of malpractice. Medical experts are required to be able to testify that the health care provider did what was required of treatment in their particular field of expertise. They also have to testify to the damage caused by the actions or inactions of the doctor.

The injuries that result from malpractice and negligence can be extremely serious. For instance, a misdiagnosis of a health problem could have life-threatening effects. Other types of injuries include operating on the wrong body part or putting instruments inside the patient during surgery.

The patient must prove four legal elements of a malpractice claim which include a duty to the patient by the physician; a breach of this duty; an injury 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 claim.

Causation

The injury element, also known as causation is one of the most important elements of a medical malpractice case. To prove causation, the plaintiff must prove that their injury was caused by the physician's negligence. This can be a difficult task for a number of reasons.

For instance, many injuries that are the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit are the result of long-term or ongoing illnesses that were in the process of being treated prior to. Often the statute of limitation for a medical malpractice lawsuit extends over a variety of years and the injuries can develop gradually.

In these cases, proving that a medical professional's breach of the standard of care led to the injury is a challenge. However, vimeo the aggrieved patient might be able use the evidence gathered by the attorney, including medical records and expert testimony.

During the discovery process, which is a component of the legal procedure for preparation for trial, your lawyer can seek disclosure of expert testimony and other documents from defense attorneys of the defendants. The doctor who is defending the lawsuit will be required to testify in depositions, which are testimony given under an oath. Your lawyer can challenge doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will decide then if the plaintiff has proved the essential elements of their case, including obligation, breach, causation and injury.

Negligence

If a medical malpractice lawsuit is filed, the plaintiff will have to convince the jury that it was more likely than not that the doctor violated professional duties and that those violations caused injury. The plaintiff's lawyer has to demonstrate this with evidence gathered through pretrial discovery, which involves asking for disclosure of documents such as medical records from all parties involved in the lawsuit. Depositions, wherein statements are made under oath and recorded for use in trial, are also part of this process.

A doctor has violated their professional obligation in the event that they did something an ordinary prudent doctor Vimeo would not have done in similar circumstances. However, it must be proven that the breach directly caused injury to the patient. This is referred to as causation or proximate cause. Patients may go to the hospital to repair a hernia but instead end up having their gall bladder removed. This is medical negligence as the procedure did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a certain time frame, also known as the statute of limitations. This is different from state to state. The injured patient has to prove that the negligent treatment resulted in injury, and after that they must prove what monetary compensation they are entitled to.

Damages

If medical negligence has caused you to suffer an injury, you are entitled to be made whole. Scaffidi & Associates can help you get fair and complete compensation for your losses.

The first step is to file and serve a complaint and summons on all defendants named in the lawsuit. The parties engage in discovery. This is a process which involves the disclosure of documents and statements presented under an oath. During discovery medical records and notes from a doctor will typically be sought.

In the majority of states, you must demonstrate four elements in order to be compensated for injuries caused by hillsborough medical malpractice lawsuit malpractice such as a duty due to the healthcare provider; a breach of that duty; a causal connection between the breach and the injury suffered by the patient and damages resulting from the injury. If your lawyer can prove all of these elements, then you've got an argument for financial compensation in a monticello medical malpractice lawyer malpractice claim.

In certain instances, courts can give punitive damages, which are intended to penalize the culprit and deter others from engaging in similar misconduct. This isn't often however, in medical malpractice cases. The courts must be able to prove evidence of intent to commit a crime before they are able to make these extraordinary awards.