How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who finds that an object that is foreign, such as surgical clamps, remains inside her body after gall bladder surgery could be able to file a lawsuit for medical malpractice. A successful claim has to prove the elements of medical negligence: duty, deviation from the norm and direct cause.

Our clients must establish a direct link between the breach of duty and the injury. This is known as the proximate reason.

Causes of Injury

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed either by the person who was injured or an attorney. Depending on the circumstances this could be a spouse of the patient or an adult child parent, guardian ad-litem or executor or administrator of the estate of the patient who died. The defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit is the health care provider. This could be a doctor, nurse, therapist or any other health professional.

Expert testimony is often required in cases of malpractice. Medical experts must be able to prove whether or not the health care provider was in compliance with the standard of care in their specific field. They must also testify to the damage caused by the actions or inactions of the doctor.

Injury caused by negligence and mistakes can be catastrophic. An incorrect diagnosis can lead to serious consequences, like an illness that could be life-threatening. Other types of injuries can include operating on the wrong body part or leaving surgical instruments inside the patient.

To establish a malpractice case the patient has to prove four legal elements: a duty the physician owed to them; a breach in this duty, resulting injury and damages. In some states, like New York, the law puts a limit on amount of money that can be awarded in an action for malpractice.

Causation

The injury element, also referred to as causation, is one the most important elements in medical malpractice lawsuits malpractice cases. To establish causation, the plaintiff must demonstrate that their injury was caused by the physician's negligence. This can be a challenging task due to several reasons.

A lot of the injuries that form the basis of a medical negligence lawsuit result from long-term illnesses or medical malpractice conditions that existed prior to when treatment started. Often the statute of limitations for a claim involving medical malpractice attorney malpractice extends over a number of years and the injuries may develop slowly.

In these instances, proving that a medical professional's breached the standard of care which led to the injury can be difficult. The attorney could have collected evidence, such as expert testimony and medical records, that the injured patient can use.

In the discovery process that is part of the legal process for the preparation of a trial your attorney can request that the defendants' lawyers disclose expert testimony and other documents. The doctor Medical malpractice who is representing the case will be asked to testify in a deposition. This is a testimonies that is made under an oath. Your lawyer can cross-examine the doctor and challenge the doctor's findings. The jury will decide then if the plaintiff has proved the necessary elements of their case, including breach of duty, causation, breach of duty and injury.

Negligence

If a medical malpractice lawsuit 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 duties and those violations caused injury. The plaintiff's lawyer must be able to prove this by utilizing evidence collected during discovery. This involves the request of documents, including medical records and other records from all parties in a lawsuit. Depositions, wherein statements are made under oath and recorded for use at trial, are also a part of this process.

A doctor breached his or her professional obligations when he or she did something that a prudent physician would not do under similar circumstances. However it must be proved that the breach directly caused injury to the patient. This is known as causation or proximate causes. For example the patient is admitted to the hospital for a hernia surgery and ends up having his or his gall bladder removed instead. This is medical malpractice because the removal of the gall bladder did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be brought within a legally prescribed period of time, also known as the statute of limitations, which is different for each state. The person who suffered the injury must show that the inadequate treatment caused injury, and they must prove what monetary compensation they're entitled to.

Damages

If medical negligence has led you to suffer injury, you should be compensated. Scaffidi & Associates can help you get fair and complete compensation for your losses.

The first step in a lawsuit is to make a complaint and serve it along with summons and other papers on all defendants. The parties then engage in discovery, in which documents and statements are made public under the oath. Medical records and the doctor's notes are typically requested during discovery.

In the majority of states, you have to prove four things in order to be compensated for injuries incurred by medical malpractice that is a duty owed by the healthcare provider; a breach of that obligation; a causal connection between the breach and the injury suffered by the patient and the damages that result from the injury. If your lawyer can prove all these aspects of a medical negligence claim, you'll have an impressive case.

In certain instances, a court may give punitive damages, which are intended to punish the culprit and deter others from engaging in similar conduct. This isn't often however, in medical malpractice cases. The courts must have clear evidence of malice before they are able to give these extraordinary damages.