How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who discovers a foreign object like surgical clamps, remains inside her body after gall bladder surgery can file a medical malpractice lawsuit. A successful claim must establish the legal elements of medical negligence: duty, deviation from this obligation, direct cause and injury.

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

Cause of Injury

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed either by the person who was injured or a legal representative. This can be the spouse, adult child parent, guardian, or administrator of the estate of a deceased patient depending on the circumstances. The plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit is the health professional. This could be an accredited doctor, nurse or therapist.

Malpractice cases typically involve many expert witnesses. Medical experts must testify as to whether or whether the healthcare provider adhered to the standards of care for their particular area of expertise. They must also testify regarding injuries caused by doctor's actions or inactions.

The consequences of malpractice and negligence can be very serious. A mistake in diagnosis can have devastating consequences, attorneys like life-threatening conditions. Other types of injuries include operating on the wrong body part or leaving surgical instruments inside the patient.

The patient must establish four legal elements in a malpractice case the duty owed to the patient by the physician and a breach of this obligation; an injury resulting by the breach and the consequential damages. In some states such as New York the law limits the amount of money that can be awarded in a case of malpractice.

Causation

The injury element, also known as causation, is among the most crucial elements in medical malpractice cases. To prove causation the plaintiff must demonstrate that they suffered their injury based on a balance of probabilities as a result of the negligence of a physician. This can be a challenging task for Attorneys a number of reasons.

Many of the injuries that are the basis of a medical negligence lawsuit stem from long-term conditions or ongoing illnesses that existed before treatment began. Often, the statute of limitations for a claim involving shorewood medical malpractice attorney malpractice extends over a variety of years, and injuries may develop slowly.

In these cases it can be difficult to prove that a particular medical professional's breach of standard of care led to the injury. The attorney may have collected evidence, such as expert testimony and medical records that the patient who was injured can utilize.

During the discovery process, which is a component of the legal process for prepping for trial, your lawyer could request disclosure of expert testimony and other evidence from defendants' attorneys. The doctor who is representing the case will be asked to testify in deposition. This is a testimonies that's given under an oath. Your lawyer will be able to challenge the doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will decide whether the plaintiff has proved that the allegations of the case are true, including duty, breach and causation.

Negligence

When a medical negligence claim is filed in court, the plaintiff must to convince the jury that it was more likely than not that the doctor did not perform his or her professional duties and those breaches resulted in injuries. The plaintiff's attorney must be able to prove this by utilizing evidence obtained during discovery. This includes soliciting documents, including medical records from all parties involved in a lawsuit. The process also involves sworn declarations that are recorded and used at trial.

A doctor has violated his or her professional obligation in the event that he or her did something that a reasonable prudent physician would not do in the same circumstances. However it must be proven that the breach directly caused the injury to the patient. This is referred to as causation or proximate causes. For instance when a patient is taken to the hospital for a procedure to treat a hernia and is then able to have his or her gall bladder removed instead. This is medical malpractice because the removal of the gall bladder was not beneficial to the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a legally prescribed period of time, also known as the statute of limitations, that varies from state to state. The person who suffered the injury must show that the inadequate treatment caused injury, then they must show what compensation they deserve.

Damages

If a medical error has caused you to suffer an injury, you have the right to be made whole. At Scaffidi & Associates, we can assist you in obtaining full and fair compensation for your losses.

The first step in a lawsuit is to make a complaint and serve it as well as summons and other documents on all defendants. The parties then participate in discovery, a process by which documents and statements are made public under an oath. Medical records and notes of the doctor are typically sought during discovery.

In most states, to receive compensation for injuries caused by negligence, you must to establish four elements that include a duty of care owed by the healthcare provider, a breach of this obligation; a causal connection between the breach and injury; and damages that result from the injury. If your attorney can establish all of these elements, you will have an extremely strong case for financial compensation in a medical malpractice claim.

In certain cases the court can award punitive damages, which are intended to penalize the offender and deter others from engaging in similar misconduct. However, this isn't the norm in medical malpractice cases as the courts require extremely evident proof of malice in order to award these awe-inspiring awards.