Four Elements of a Medical Malpractice Case

Physicians are worried about malpractice lawsuits because they pose a real threat. They drive up physician insurance costs and may alter the practice of medicine.

In general, doctors owe patients the obligation to adhere to the accepted medical practice without deviation or the slightest omission. This is referred to as the standard of care.

To successfully claim a doctor's negligence, the patient must demonstrate each of the following legal elements with the preponderance evidence: breach of duty; breach of duty; causation; damages.

Duty of Care

The first element in a medical malpractice case is that the person who was injured was owed a doctor's duty that was not met. Medical malpractice claims differ from other types of negligence claims in that they typically involve a doctor-patient relation, which can be established by documents from a doctor or phone consultations. In general, doctors who treat patients must follow the accepted standards of their profession and practice.

However, doctors could also be held accountable for the actions of their staff members, xilubbs.xclub.tw like interns or assistants. Furthermore, they can be held accountable for the actions of emergency medical personnel who are working under their supervision.

The next element the plaintiff must prove is that the defendant did not adhere to the standard of care in the specific circumstances. This is a fact that can be demonstrated through expert testimony on acceptable medical practices and the defendant's refusal to adhere to these guidelines. The second aspect of malpractice is that this breach directly caused harm to the patient. To prove that you have committed a crime, your lawyer will need to show that the defendant's breach of duty directly caused your injury or malpractice the death of your loved one. This concept is known as the proximate cause. For example, if the negligence alleged by the defendant wouldn't have had a negative impact on your health irrespective of whether it was performed or not, then you wouldn't be able to win damages for any injuries or wrongful deaths that were believed to have been caused by the conduct of the physician.

Breach of Duty

A doctor who fails to fulfill their duty of care towards clients can be held liable for negligence. In order to succeed in a medical negligence lawsuit, the injured person must prove four legal elements which include: a duty to provide professional care existed and the doctor breached this duty; the breach caused injury; and the result was a cause of damages. The first aspect of a medical malpractice claim is the standard of care which is determined by experts' testimony. The standard of care is the amount an "reasonably prudent" doctor would do under similar or identical circumstances.

The physician's violation of this duty occurs when he/she is not following the standard of care while rendering treatment to the patient. For instance, when a physician breaks the arm of a patient, the doctor isn't able to properly set it or fails to cast the broken arm. A doctor's error can cause the injured arm to heal incorrectly. This could lead to either a complete or partial loss of use, and monetary damages.

In the majority of instances, medical malpractice cases are filed with state trial courts. However in certain circumstances, federal courts can also hear these claims. Each of the 94 federal district courts in the United States has a judge-jury panel that will hear medical malpractice cases. Most states have a system of specialized state courts that handle these cases, but with different rules of procedure than federal district courts.

Causation

Physicians take an oath to not cause harm, and if they fail in their duty to uphold that duty and cause injury patients may be entitled to compensation for any damages. A medical malpractice claim may occur when a doctor decides to perform a procedure that carries known risks, and the patient would not have opted out of the procedure had they been fully informed of all possible consequences.

The plaintiff in a medical negligence case must prove that the doctor failed to follow accepted guidelines for practice, and that this negligence was a direct cause of the injury or illness that the patient was suffering from and that the harm would not have happened but because of the negligence of a physician. This burden of proof is referred to as the "preponderance of the evidence" standard that is less stringent than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard required to convict criminal defendants.

The lawsuits that allege medical malpractice usually require expert testimony and lengthy pretrial discovery procedures. Both parties invest a lot of time and money preparing for a case, whether it settles or if it goes to court. This is a major reason why malpractice claims are so costly to both the plaintiff and the medical professional involved, and it is one of the reasons that physicians and health care groups are a part of efforts to reform tort law in the United States.

Damages

In the event of medical negligence, victims can recover compensatory and punitive damages. Compensatory damages pay for financial losses and expenses caused by the negligence of a physician, such as loss of income or the expense of future medical treatment. Non-economic damages could include the payment of physical and mental suffering.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are filed in state trial courts. However, there are situations where a lawsuit could be filed in federal court. This is usually the situation when a doctor is employed by a federally-funded medical clinic, like the Veteran's administration or when the doctor is from another country but is practicing in the United States as part of an agreement that confers extraterritorial authority.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are adversarial and require extensive legal discovery. This includes written interrogatories, depositions as well as requests for documents. The victims of medical negligence might also have to go through a jury trial, and face the possibility of having their claim rejected by a judge or dismissed by a juror.

You must demonstrate that medical negligence or error caused the injury you suffered to win a lawsuit for medical malpractice. The harm must be serious enough that a monetary award would substantially make up for your financial losses as well as emotional trauma. New York medical malpractice law also has specific damage caps, as well as limits to the amount that the patient could receive when they are successful in bringing an appeal.