Making Medical Malpractice Legal

Medical malpractice is a complicated legal issue. Physicians must take steps to safeguard themselves from liability by obtaining adequate medical malpractice insurance.

Patients must prove that the doctor's breached duty caused them injury. Damages are determined by the economic loss, like lost income, future medical costs and other non-economic losses such as pain and discomfort.

Duty of care

The first element that an attorney for medical malpractice needs to establish in a case is the duty of care. All healthcare professionals owe their patients the obligation of acting according to the current standards of care in their specific field. This includes doctors, nurses and other medical professionals. It also includes assistants interns, medical students who work under the supervision of an attending doctor or physician.

The standard of care is established by a medical expert witness in the court. They examine the bixby medical malpractice law firm records and then compare them to what a competent physician in the same field would have done under similar circumstances.

If the healthcare professional's actions or lack thereof fell below this standard, they violated their duty of care and caused harm. The patient who was injured must show that the healthcare professional's breach directly resulted in their losses. This can include scarring, pain, and other injuries. They also can include financial losses, such as Oak Brook Medical Malpractice Attorney expenses and lost wages.

For example, if a surgeon left a tool for surgery inside the patient following surgery, it can cause discomfort and even could cause damage. Medical malpractice lawyers can demonstrate through the testimony of an expert medical doctor that the surgical team's negligence resulted in these damage. This is known as direct causation. The patient is also required to show evidence of their injuries.

Breach of duty

A malpractice lawsuit can be filed when medical professionals violate the accepted standard of care and results in injuries to patients. The party who suffered the injury must prove that the doctor breached their duty to care by providing treatment that was not up to par. The doctor was in a negligent manner, and this caused the patient to suffer harm.

To establish that a doctor did not meet his duty of care, a knowledgeable attorney must present an expert witness testimony to prove that the defendant did not possess or exercise the level of skill and knowledge that doctors with their particular expertise have. The plaintiff should also prove that there is a direct correlation between the alleged negligence and the injuries sustained. This is referred to as causation.

Moreover, the injured plaintiff must also prove that they would not have opted for the course of treatment if they had been properly informed. This is also referred to as the principle of informed consent. Physicians are required to inform patients of possible risks or complications that could arise from the procedure prior to performing surgery or put the patient under anesthesia.

The statute of limitations is a time period that must be complied with by the person who has been injured to bring a claim against medical malpractice. A court will almost always dismiss a lawsuit filed after the statute of limitations has passed, no matter how egregious the error made by the healthcare provider or how damaging to the patient was. Some states require that the parties to a lawsuit for medical malpractice submit their claims to an independent screening panel or to arbitral arbitration on a voluntary basis in lieu of trial.

Causation

Medical malpractice cases require a substantial investment in time and money both for the physicians who are involved in the lawsuit and their lawyers. The process of proving the treatment of a doctor was not in accordance with the accepted standards requires extensive review of records, interviews with witnesses, and analysis of medical literature. Furthermore, lawsuits must be filed within a specified period of time stipulated by law. Generally speaking, this deadline -- also known as the statute of limitations, begins to run when the medical error was made or when the patient discovered (or ought to have realized under the terms of the law) that they were harmed because of a medical error.

Proving causation is one of the four elements that are essential to medical malpractice claims and it is perhaps the most difficult to prove. Lawyers must prove that the breach of the duty of care directly resulted in injury to the patient and that the damages or injuries could not have occurred if it weren't due to the negligence of a physician. This is referred to as actual or proximate cause. The legal threshold for proving this element differs from that required in criminal cases, where evidence must be beyond a reasonable doubt.

If a lawyer can prove these three elements, the victim of malpractice may be entitled to financial compensation. The purpose of these monetary damages is to compensate the victim for their injuries as well as loss of quality of life, and other losses.

Damages

Medical malpractice cases can be complicated and require expert testimony. The lawyer representing the plaintiff must demonstrate that a doctor did not adhere to the standards of medical treatment, that this failure caused injuries, and that the injury was caused by damages. The plaintiff must also prove that the injury can be quantified in terms of money.

Medical negligence claims can be among the most complex and expensive legal proceedings. To combat the high cost of litigation, states have implemented tort reform measures aimed at increasing efficiency by limiting frivolous claims and paying injured parties fairly. Some of these measures include limiting the amount plaintiffs can recover for suffering and pain as well as limiting the number defendants who could be held accountable for the payment of an award (joint and several liability) or the requirement of mediation, arbitration or the submission of an action to a panel to be screened prior to trial; and imposing limits on damages in medical malpractice suits.

Many malpractice cases also have technical aspects that are difficult to understand by juries and judges. This is why experts are so important in these cases. For instance when a surgeon makes mistakes during surgery, the patient's lawyer must hire an orthopedic expert to explain why the specific error would not have occurred had the surgeon performed the surgery in accordance with the applicable medical guidelines of care.