How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who finds a foreign object such as surgical clamps within her body after gall bladder surgery can sue for medical negligence. A successful lawsuit must establish the elements of medical negligence: duty, deviation from this duty and direct cause.

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

Causes of Injury

A claim for medical malpractice can be filed either by the person who suffered the injury or a legal representative. This could be the spouse, adult child, parent, guardian or administrator of the estate of a deceased person, depending on the circumstances. In a case of medical malpractice, the defendant is the health care provider. It could be an accredited nurse, doctor or therapist.

Expert testimony is often required in cases of malpractice. yonkers medical malpractice law firm experts must determine if the health care provider was acting in accordance with the standards of care in his or her special area of expertise. They must also testify to the harm resulting from the actions or inactions of a doctor.

Injuries resulting from malpractice and medical malpractice negligence can be very severe. A misdiagnosis can have serious consequences, like a life-threatening condition. Other types of injuries can include operating on the wrong body part or putting surgical instruments in the patient.

The patient must prove four legal elements of a malpractice lawsuit the duty owed to the patient by the doctor and a breach of this duty; an injury caused by the breach; and the consequential damages. In certain states, like new rochelle medical malpractice lawsuit York, the law restricts the amount of money that can be awarded for an action for malpractice.

Causation

The injury element is known as the causation. It is among the most crucial elements in a medical malpractice claim. To prove causation the plaintiff must show that they suffered an injury on the basis of probabilities as a result of the physician's negligence. This is a challenging task due to several reasons.

For instance, a lot of injuries that are the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit stem 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 number of years and the injuries can develop gradually.

In these instances it is necessary to prove that a medical professional's breached the standard of care that led to the injury is difficult. The attorney may have gathered evidence, such as expert testimony and medical records that the injured person may use.

During the discovery procedure that is part of the legal procedure for prepping for a trial your lawyer can request the lawyers of the defendants provide expert testimony and other documents. The doctor who is representing the case will be asked to testify in a deposition. This is a declaration that's given under the oath. Your lawyer can challenge the doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will then decide if the plaintiff has proven the necessary elements of their claim, which includes obligation, breach, causation and injury.

Negligence

If a claim for medical malpractice is filed in court, the plaintiff must to convince the jury that it was more likely than not that the doctor committed a breach of professional obligations and that those violations caused injuries. The lawyer representing the plaintiff must demonstrate this by presenting evidence through pretrial discovery, which involves requesting disclosure of documents including medical records from all parties who are involved in the lawsuit. Depositions, in which statements are made under oath, and recorded for use at trial, are also part of this procedure.

A doctor has violated their professional obligation if they did something reasonable and prudent doctors would not have done under similar circumstances. It must be proved that the breach caused injury directly to the patient. This is known as causation or the proximate cause. For instance an individual goes to the hospital for a hernia operation and is then able to have his or her gall bladder removed instead. This is medical negligence because the removal did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a legal time frame, also known as the statute of limitations. This is different from state to state. The person who has suffered injury must prove that the substandard care caused injury, and then he or she must prove how much monetary compensation he or she deserves.

Damages

You are entitled to compensation for any injuries you've suffered as a result of medical negligence. At Scaffidi & Associates, we can help you receive the full and fair compensation for your losses.

The first step is filing and serving a summons and complaint to all named defendants in the lawsuit. The parties then proceed to discovery, a process by which documents and statements are disclosed under oath. During discovery, medical records and notes from a doctor are typically requested.

In most states, you need to establish four elements to be compensated for injuries incurred by medical malpractice that is a duty owed by the healthcare provider and a breach of the duty; a causal connection between the breach and the injury suffered by the patient and the damages that result from the injury. If your attorney can prove all of these elements of a medical negligence claim, you'll have a convincing case.

In certain cases the court can award punitive damage that is intended to penalize a wrongdoer and discourage others from committing similar conduct. However, this isn't the norm in medical malpractice cases, because the courts require specific proof of malice to award these awe-inspiring awards.