What Is a Medical Malpractice Claim?

A medical malpractice lawsuit is brought by an individual who is unhappy with the carelessness of a healthcare professional. The patient, or his or her estate in the case of a deceased patient, must demonstrate that the negligence was responsible for injury or harm.

Lawsuits alleging medical malpractice are generally filed in state trial courts. The patient who is affronted must prove four legal elements to win the case:

Duty of care

In any legal case in any legal matter, the plaintiff must demonstrate that a third party or entity had a responsibility to them under a duty of care and failed to meet that duty. In the case of medical malpractice, this involves a physician's duty to provide their patients with a proper standards of medical care. Expert testimony is usually used to establish this.

Expert witnesses assist in determining the appropriate medical standards and then show how a doctor was not following the guidelines in their treatment of the patient. A lawyer for a plaintiff's claim for medical malpractice needs to establish that the deviation was responsible for the victim's injuries.

Using expert testimony is essential since jurors typically are not aware of anatomy and are exposed to many medical dramas. In medical malpractice claims, this is particularly important as it is often difficult to establish the appropriate standard of care. In a medical malpractice case, the standard of care is referred to the skill level of the practitioner, the quality of treatment, and degree of diligence possessed by other doctors in comparable specialties in similar situations.

In general, experts in medical malpractice claims are surgeons or fellow doctors with similar qualifications and board certifications. Due to the "conspiracy of silence" between a variety of doctors (a term lawyers employ to describe the tendency of doctors to not speak against each other) it is often difficult to find a qualified expert willing to be a witness against a colleague for sub-standard care.

Breach of duty

Medical malpractice happens when a doctor makes an error that hurts the patient. These mistakes can lead to new injuries, or worsen existing ones. Medical malpractice cases are a complex set of legal issues and regulations, making them difficult to prove. A good medical malpractice attorney will examine your case to determine if a doctor has breached their duty to you.

Your attorney will establish a doctor-patient relation between you and your physician which is required to prove a malpractice claim. Your attorney will also examine the actions and decisions of your physician to determine if they met what is referred to as the standard of care for doctors of similar backgrounds, training and geographical location in your state.

Doctors are required to respect the standards that their patients have set without omission or deviation. A breach of duty implies that the doctor failed to meet your expectations and resulted in injury to you.

Proving the breach of duty is generally straightforward with the aid of your attorney's research and expert witnesses. Experts can testify to the reasons why the doctor's actions did not meet the standards of care and then explain how a medical professional in similar circumstances would have performed differently. Your lawyer must also connect the breach of duty with your injuries and damages. Your lawyer will review your medical records and test results, prescriptions and imaging scans to make a convincing case that your physician's breach of duty directly caused your injuries.

Causation

Medical mistakes can increase the risk of a wide range of treatments. To prove causality, the injured patient must prove that there is a direct link between the alleged negligence of a doctor and the injury. In many cases, expert testimony is required and the assistance from a watervliet medical malpractice lawsuit malpractice attorney.

For example, misdiagnosing a condition or a serious illness is a common medical error. If doctors fail to recognize cancer or another illness, it can have severe consequences for the patient. In this instance the patient could be suffering unnecessary pain and even end up dying. The doctor may have committed a mistake by not diagnosing the problem properly.

Proving that a medical professional or hospital did not treat you properly can be difficult and time-consuming. Evidence can come from a range of sources, such as medical records or test results, expert witness testimony and depositions. An attorney can help you locate and interpret the evidence as well as represent you during the deposition process.

It is important to keep in mind that only a healthcare professional is liable for negligence. Unlike receptionists at medical centers nurses and doctors are expected to operate in accordance with prevailing standards of care. Medical professionals must be able to anticipate the outcome based on qualifications and education.

Damages

In medical malpractice lawsuits, courts hear about monetary damages to compensate the injured patient. These damages may include future and past medical bills loss of wages, disfigurement and pain and loss of enjoyment of life. In certain cases punitive damages could also be awarded. These are reserved for particularly egregious conduct that society is interested in preventing.

A medical malpractice claim typically begins with filing a civil summons and complaint in court. The parties follow up with discovery. This is a process in which the defendant and plaintiff are required to give testimony under oath. This could involve seeking medical records or other documents, taking depositions of parties who are involved in a lawsuit and interviewing witnesses.

In a medical malpractice case it is essential to establish that the doctor was legally bound to provide treatment and medical care to the patient. The second aspect is that the doctor breached his duty by not adhering to the pell city medical malpractice lawsuit standards of practice. The third factor is whether the breach resulted in harm to the patient.

It is vital to note that the statute of limitations (the legally-defined time frame within which a medical negligence claim must be filed) differs from state to state. In New York, the statute of limitations is two years and six months (30 months) from the date on which the act that led to medical malpractice occurred.