How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Both lawyers and physicians must invest a lot of time and money in many medical malpractice lawsuits. This can include physician hours and work product as well as attorney time court costs and expert witness fees and many other costs.

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed in the event that a healthcare professional has been negligent or has acted in a manner that is illegal, made an error, or acted in a way that was not. Plaintiffs seeking compensation for their injuries can seek damages, which include economic losses, such as future and past medical bills as well as non-economic expenses like pain and suffering.

Complaint

A medical malpractice lawsuit is a complex one and requires evidence of credibility to be able to prevail. The injured person or their lawyer when the patient has passed away must show each of these legal elements:

The defendant breached the obligation. The defendant breached this duty. The breach directly caused injury to the plaintiff. This element is known as "cause". A breach of a standard of care cannot cause injury on its own. It must be demonstrated that it caused the injury directly and was the primary cause for the injury.

To protect the rights of patients, and to ensure that a doctor is not committing further malpractice, it is necessary to file a claim with the state medical board. A report is not a lawsuit but it can be an effective first step towards starting the malpractice claim. It is often best to speak with an Syracuse lawyer for malpractice before filing a report, or any other document.

Summons

A summons or claim is filed in court and medical malpractice lawsuits sent to the doctor who is defendant as part of the legal process. A court-appointed lawyer for the plaintiff will then look over the documents and, if they believe that there could be an incident of malpractice, they will submit a complaint and an affidavit before the court describing the medical error that is claimed to be the cause.

The next step in the legal process is to obtain evidence through pretrial discovery. This involves submitting requests for documentation like hospital billing and clinic notes, and taking the deposition of the defendant's doctor. Attorneys will then question the defendant under oath as to the details of the case.

This information will be used by the plaintiff's lawyer to establish the elements of a claim for medical negligence during trial. This includes the existence of an obligation on the doctor's part to provide medical care and treatment to patients; the doctor's breach of this duty an causal connection between the breach and the patient's injuries or death and a substantial amount of damages that result from the accident or death to warrant a monetary award for compensation.

Discovery

During the discovery phase in the discovery phase, both parties are entitled to request evidence relevant to their case. This includes medical records from prior to and after an incident of alleged negligence, details about experts as well as copies of tax returns or other documentation related to expenses out of pocket that the plaintiff claims have been attributable to them, and the names and contact information of any witnesses who will be appearing in the trial.

The majority of states have a statute of limitations that permits injured patients some time after a medical error to bring a lawsuit. These limitations are set by state laws and are subject to a rule known as the "discovery rules."

To prevail in a medical malpractice lawsuit, a patient who has been injured must prove that the negligence of a doctor resulted in a specific injury, such as physical pain, or loss of income. They must also prove causation -- that is, that the negligent treatment was the sole reason for their injury or death.

Deposition

Depositions are questions and answer sessions that are conducted in the presence of a court reporter who documents both the questions and answers. Depositions are a part of the discovery process through which the parties gather information to use in the trial.

Depositions allow attorneys to question witnesses, often doctors for a series of questions. When a doctor is questioned, they must answer all questions in an honest and open manner under an oath. Usually, the physician is questioned questions by an attorney and then cross-examined by another attorney. This is an essential stage of the process and requires the full attention and focus of the doctor.

A deposition is a great way for attorneys to obtain a detailed background of the doctor, including his or her training, education and experience. This information is crucial to showing that the doctor violated your standards of care and resulted in injury to you. Doctors who have been trained in this area often declare that they have experience in performing specific procedures and techniques that may be relevant to your particular medical-malpractice case.

Trial

Your lawyer will submit a complaint to the court and will issue a summons. This initiates a legal disclosure process called discovery. You and your doctor's staff will work together to collect evidence to support your case. This usually includes medical malpractice law firm records as well as testimony from experts.

To prove that you committed a crime it is necessary to prove that your doctor's actions did not meet the standards of care. Your lawyer must convince the jury that your injuries could be prevented if the doctor had followed the standards of care. Your doctor's lawyer will present defenses which contradict the evidence presented by your lawyer.

Despite folklore suggesting that doctors are targets for frivolous malpractice claims decades of empirical research proves that jury verdicts tend to reflect fair judgments about the extent of negligence and damages, and that juries are skeptical of excessive damage awards. The majority of malpractice cases are settled before trial.