How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

If a patient discovers that an object foreign to her, such as surgical clamps, remains inside her body after gall bladder surgery may pursue a medical malpractice suit. A successful claim must establish the legal aspects of medical negligence: duty, deviation from this duty, direct cause and injury.

Our clients must establish a direct connection between the breach of duty, and the injury. This is referred to as proximate cause.

Causes of Injury

A medical malpractice claim may be filed by the person who was injured or an attorney. This can be the spouse, adult child or parent, guardian or administrator of an estate belonging to a deceased patient, depending on the circumstances. The defendant in a wytheville medical malpractice lawsuit malpractice lawsuit is the health care provider. This could be a doctor, nurse or therapist, or any other licensed health care professional.

Malpractice cases usually involve the testimony of experts. Medical experts are required to be able to testify that the healthcare provider did what was required of care in his or her particular field of expertise. They also have to testify about the injury that was caused by the doctor's actions or inactions.

The consequences of malpractice and negligence can be very severe. A misdiagnosis can have serious consequences, like an illness that could be life-threatening. Other types of injuries could include operating on the wrong part or leaving instruments inside the patient during surgery.

To prove a malpractice case, the patient must prove four legal elements: a duty that the physician owed to them; a breach of the breach; a resulting injury; and damages. In certain states like New York the law limits the amount of money that can be awarded for a malpractice case.

Causation

The injury element is called the causation. It is among the most crucial aspects in a medical malpractice claim. To prove causation, the plaintiff must demonstrate that they sustained the injury on a balance of probabilities as a result of the physician's negligence. This can be a difficult task due to a variety reasons.

For instance, many of the injuries that are the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit arise from long-term or ongoing conditions that were present prior to the time of treatment. Often the statute of limitations for a medical negligence claim extends over a variety of years, and injuries can develop gradually.

In these instances it is necessary to prove that a medical professional's breach of the standard of care that led to the injury is not easy. The attorney may have gathered evidence, including expert testimony and medical records which the injured patient can utilize.

During the process of discovery as part of the legal procedure for preparation for a trial, your attorney can request that the lawyers representing the defendants disclose expert testimony and other documents. The doctor who is defending the lawsuit is then required to testify in a deposition, Forest hills medical malpractice lawsuit which is testimony given under oath. Your lawyer may challenge the doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will decide then if the plaintiff has proved the necessary elements of their case, including duty, breach, causation and injury.

Negligence

The plaintiff must convince jurors, when bringing a claim for medical malpractice, that it is more likely that the doctor violated his or her obligations as physician and that the violations caused injury. The lawyer for the plaintiff must show this through evidence gathered through pretrial discovery, which includes requesting disclosure of documents including medical records from all parties involved in the lawsuit. This also includes sworn statements that are recorded and used in trial.

A doctor has violated their professional obligation in the event that they did something a reasonable prudent physician would not have done under the same circumstances. It must be proven that the breach resulted in injury directly to the patient. This is referred to as causation or proximate causes. A patient could go to the hospital to repair a hernia, and instead, have their gall bladder removed. This is medical malpractice since the removal of the gall bladder did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be brought within a legally prescribed time frame, known as the statute of limitations which varies according to the state. The patient who is injured must prove that the care provided was substandard and caused injury and then he or she must prove how much monetary compensation he or she deserves.

Damages

If medical negligence has led you to suffer an injury, you are entitled to be compensated. At Scaffidi & Associates, we can assist you to receive full and fair compensation for your loss.

The first step in a lawsuit is to make a complaint and serve it along with summons and other papers on all defendants. The parties then participate in discovery, a process by which documents and declarations are made public under an oath. During discovery, medical records and doctor's notes are typically requested.

In many states, to get compensation for injuries caused through malpractice, you need to prove four things: a duty of care owed by the healthcare provider and a breach of that duty; a causal link between the breach and injury; and damages that result from the injury. If your attorney can demonstrate all of these elements of a medical negligence claim, you will have an impressive case.

In some cases the court might award punitive damage that is designed to punish the perpetrator and discourage others from committing similar acts. It is not common however, particularly in grayslake medical Malpractice lawsuit malpractice cases. The courts must have very clear evidence of malice before they are able to decide to award these extraordinary damages.