Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation is a complicated procedure. Whether or not the error constitutes malpractice depends on the ability of the patient to prove four legal elements such as a professional duty breach of this duty; injury due to the breach and damages that can be quantifiable.

Plaintiffs must also demonstrate these elements with evidence like expert testimony, depositions and discovery.

Undiagnosed or Incorrectly Diagnosed

The failure of a physician to correctly diagnose an illness or injury can result in grave complications, Malpractice Lawyers or even death. It is a typical cause of medical negligence. To prove negligence the patient or Malpractice Lawyers their attorney must show that a competent doctor in similar circumstances and in the same field would not have missed the diagnosis.

It is not always a case of negligence, but. Even highly trained and experienced doctors make mistakes. Therefore, an allegation of malpractice needs to be supported by other elements such as breach, proximate causation, and actual injury. If a physician fails to sterilize his equipment before administering anesthesia and the patient gets infected due to this, the doctor may be liable.

Lawsuits that claim malpractice are usually filed in state trial courts, where the alleged malpractice took place. However, federal courts might be able to hear cases in specific circumstances. A claim may be filed before a federal court in certain circumstances. For example it could be disputes over the statute of limitations or when the parties are of different citizenships. Certain claims are settled through arbitral arbitration, which is a binding process. This is a less-formal process that involves professional decision makers. It is designed to reduce expenses, speed up the legal proceedings, and eliminate the risk of overly large juries. Arbitration is not always available in cases of malpractice.

Dosage for a drug that is not correct

Medication mistakes, also referred to as medication errors, are one of the main causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. These errors are caused by a physician submitting prescriptions in the wrong format or giving the patient the wrong dosage. These mistakes are usually preventable. In certain circumstances, a hospital staff member, a pharmacist or other health professionals may be held liable for the harms suffered by a patient who was given the wrong dosage of medication.

A doctor could prescribe wrong medication to a patient as a result of an inaccurate diagnosis or simply by misreading the prescription. A health care professional may also administer the wrong dosage due to a breakdown in communication. For instance the nurse might take a doctor's prescription and read it incorrectly or a pharmacist could make a mistake when filling the prescription. In other instances the doctor could delay delivering the correct medication, which could result in the patient's health worsening.

A victim must prove, to be successful in a malpractice attorneys lawsuit that the medical professional breached their standards of practice and that their injuries were directly caused by the negligence. This requires medical experts to provide evidence. Moreover, a medical malpractice claim must establish the extent of a victim's injuries and the damage they sustained as a result of the negligence. This includes the costs of treatment for the victim as well as any lost wages. The greater the loss, the higher the value of the claim.

The wrong procedure

It might seem unlikely for medical professionals to perform the incorrect procedure on a patient however, this type of event occurs. A surgeon who commits this error may be held liable for malpractice. If a patient is injured due to an error in surgery could be held accountable for any negligence that occurred during the procedure.

Any health care professional who is accused of negligence must prove that the patient was harmed through a specific act or omission to act. To establish this, the patient's legal team must demonstrate that: (1) the doctor was bound by an obligation to provide care or treatment; (2) that the doctor did not fulfill this duty; (3) that there is a direct causal connection between the breach and the injury; and (4) that the injury causes damages that the legal system is able to resolve.

A breach of duty of care is no value unless it results in injury. This is why medical malpractice lawyers cases tend to be founded on the legal doctrine "res ipsa locquitur" which states that certain injuries are so obvious that they can only be explained through negligence.

Depending on the circumstances of the situation, the plaintiff (the patient or their legally appointed representative) or their attorney could present the claim to state or federal court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed in state courts, but in certain circumstances the case of medical negligence may be filed in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

A wrong-site procedure is a rare error, but it could be considered medical malpractice when the procedure is performed on the wrong part of the body. This type of error is usually caused by a lack of communication between members of a surgical team or production pressure that leads to an individual surgeon being assigned multiple surgeries at once. In these instances, the surgeon is not solely responsible for his or her liability for a wrong-site surgery because there is the legal principle known as "res ipsa loquitur" which means that the outcome of the error is evident and cannot be traced to negligence.

If someone is injured during a wrong-site procedure, he or her may need additional procedures to correct problems that were aggravated by the mistake. Patients and their families are left with costly medical bills. It is important to take these costs into consideration when calculating the financial cost of medical malpractice lawsuits.

Surgeons are most often accountable for surgical errors because they are the individuals who are responsible for properly prepping for the operation as well as double-checking the patient's charts and medical records, coordinating effectively with other members of the medical team and making sure the incision is placed at the right place. In some cases, a hospital or anesthesiologist could also be held accountable. Medical malpractice lawsuits are typically filed in state courts, but may be transferred in certain circumstances to federal court.