Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation is a complex procedure. If a patient can prove four elements, it will determine whether or not the error is a case of malpractice law firms. These are the following: a professional obligation or breach of that obligation; an injury that results from the breach; and quantifiable damage.

Plaintiffs must prove these elements through evidence such as expert testimony, depositions, or discovery.

Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose

The inability of a doctor to diagnose an illness or injury could lead to grave complications, or malpractice even death. Many medical malpractice cases involve misdiagnosis. To prove negligence, the patient or their lawyer must demonstrate that a competent doctor in similar circumstances and in the same specialty would not have missed the diagnosis.

A misdiagnosis is not always malpractice. Even the most experienced and highly trained doctors make mistakes. Therefore, an allegation of malpractice needs to be backed by other elements like breach, proximate causation, and actual injury. If a doctor does not sterilize his equipment prior to administering anesthesia and the patient gets infected because of this, the doctor might be liable.

Lawsuits that claim malpractice are usually filed in state trial courts, where the alleged malpractice took place. Federal courts could however have jurisdiction in certain instances. A case can be brought before a federal court in certain circumstances. For example it could involve the issue of a statute of limitation or if the parties are of different citizenships. Certain disputes are settled through arbitration that is binding and voluntary. This is a less formal process involving professional decision makers that is designed to reduce costs, speed up legal proceedings and remove the possibility of excessively generous juries. However, arbitration is not accessible for all malpractice claims.

Wrong Drug Dosage

Medication errors--also called medication mistakes--are one of the main causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. They can be the result of a doctor writing a prescription incorrectly or administering the wrong dosage to patients. These errors are usually avoidable. According to the situation an individual pharmacy, hospital or other health care provider could be held accountable for injuries caused by a patient who was given the wrong dose of a drug.

A doctor might prescribe the wrong drug because of a misdiagnosis, or simply failing to read the prescription. A health care professional may also prescribe the wrong dosage due to a lapse in communication. For instance nurses may take a doctor's prescription and read it incorrectly or a pharmacist may make an error when filling the prescription. In other cases the doctor could delay the proper medication, which could cause the patient's condition to getting worse.

A person who suffers from a medical malpractice claim must prove, for the sake of winning a malpractice claim that the medical professional breached their standards of practice and that their injuries were directly attributed to the negligence. This requires medical expert testimony. Medical malpractice cases also must prove the extent and the damages caused by the victim's injuries. This includes the cost of a person's treatment and any lost wages. Generally, the greater a loss is, the more valuable the claim will be.

The wrong procedure

It might seem unlikely that medical professionals would carry out the incorrect procedure on a patient but this type of incident occurs. If a surgeon makes this mistake could be held liable for negligence. A patient who is injured as a result of an error during surgery can be held accountable for any mistakes that were made during the procedure.

Any health professional who is alleged to be negligent must show that the patient was harmed due to a specific act or omission to act. To prove this the legal team representing the patient must demonstrate: (1) that the doctor was required to provide care or treat the patient; (2) that he did not fulfill that duty; (3) that a causal connection exists between the negligence and injury; and (4) the harm results in damages that the legal system can address.

A breach of duty of care has no value unless it results in injury. This is why medical malpractice cases are often dependent on the lawful doctrine "res ipsa locquitur" which states that certain injuries are so obvious that they can only be explained by negligence.

Based on the facts the plaintiff (the person who filed the claim or their legal representative) or their lawyer may choose to file in state or federal court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed in state courts, however in certain circumstances the case of medical negligence can be filed in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

Wrong-site surgery is a rare error, but it can be considered medical malpractice if the procedure is performed on the wrong side of the body. This kind of error is usually caused by a lack of communication between the surgical team or production pressures that lead to surgeons being assigned several surgeries to perform at the same time. In these situations the surgeon is not solely responsible for a wrong-site operation because of the legal principle of "res ipsa locquitur" which states that the result is a matter of fact and cannot be attributed to negligence.

If a patient gets injured during surgery that is performed on the wrong site, he or she may require additional treatments to correct problems exacerbated by the surgical mistake. Patients and their families are left with costly medical bills. It is crucial to take these costs into consideration when calculating the financial burden of medical malpractice lawsuit lawsuits.

The majority of times surgeons are held accountable for surgical mistakes. They are responsible for preparing the patient for the procedure, examining the medical records and charts of the patient, communicating with the rest of the medical staff, and making sure that the incision was placed in the proper location. However, in some instances an anesthesiologist or a hospital could also be held responsible. Medical malpractice lawsuits are usually filed in state courts, but under certain circumstances they may be transferred to federal court.