What Is a Medical Malpractice Claim?

A medical malpractice case is brought by the patient who complains about the negligence of a healthcare worker. The patient (or his or her estate if the patient has passed away) must prove that the negligence caused injury or harm.

In general, lawsuits alleging medical negligence are filed in state trial court. The patient who is suffering from the injury must prove four legal elements in order to win a case:

Duty of care

In order to prove a legal claim, the plaintiff must demonstrate that they was in the position of being owed a duty by an individual or a company and that they failed to perform the obligation. In the case of medical malpractice, it is the responsibility of medical professionals to provide the proper standard of care to their patients. Expert testimony is often used to determine this.

Expert witnesses can help determine the appropriate medical standards. They then prove that a physician violated these standards in their treatment of the patient. A plaintiff's medical malpractice attorney must then prove that the deviation was directly responsible for the victim's injuries.

Expert testimony is crucial since jurors are often not knowledgeable about anatomy and have seen a lot of medical dramas. This is especially important when it comes to medical malpractice claims, as it can be difficult to establish a minimum standard of care. In a medical malpractice claim, the standard of care refers to the skill level in the treatment, its quality and the degree of diligence shown by other doctors with similar specialties in similar circumstances.

In general, experts in medical malpractice claims are fellow surgeons or doctors with similar qualifications and board certifications. It can be difficult to locate an expert willing to testify about poor care due to the "conspiracy" of silence among doctors.

Breach of duty

If a doctor makes an error that hurts the patient, this is medical malpractice. These errors can lead to new injuries or make preexisting ones worse. Medical malpractice claims are difficult to prove because they involve complicated laws and concerns. However, a skilled medical malpractice lawyer will analyze the circumstances of your case and determine whether a doctor breached his or her duty to the patient.

Your attorney will establish a doctor-patient connection between you and your doctor, which is necessary to prove a malpractice claim. Your attorney will review the actions and decisions of your physician to determine whether the standard of care in your state for doctors who have similar backgrounds, training, and geographic location is fulfilled.

Physicians have a duty to follow the standards established by their patients without deviation or omission. A breach of duty implies that the doctor did not meet your expectations and this failure caused you injury.

It is simple to establish a breach of duties with the help of experts and your attorney's research. Those experts can testify as to the reasons why the doctor's actions did not meet the standards of medical care and describe how a different medical professional in similar circumstances might have different actions. Your lawyer must also link the breach of duty with your injuries and damages. Your lawyer will scrutinize your medical records as well as test results, prescriptions and imaging scans to create a convincing case that your physician's breach of duty directly resulted in your injuries.

Causation

Medical mistakes can increase the risk of most treatments. To prove the causality, a patient who has suffered an injury must demonstrate a direct connection between the negligence of the doctor and the injury. In many instances this requires expert testimony and the assistance of a medical malpractice lawyer.

Medical errors include, for example, misdiagnosing serious diseases or conditions. If a doctor fails to diagnose cancer or other conditions it could result in severe consequences for the patient. In this instance, the patient could suffer unnecessarily pain and may even die. The doctor may be negligent for not diagnosing the condition properly.

Proving that a doctor or hospital did not treat you properly is a lengthy and difficult process. The evidence you require could be from a variety of sources, medical malpractice lawyer such as medical records and test results as and expert testimony from witnesses and oral depositions. Your attorney can assist with obtaining and interpreting the evidence, as well being your advocate during the process of depositions.

It is important to know that only healthcare professionals are liable for malpractice. Doctors and nurses, in contrast to receptionists in medical centers, are expected to follow the current standards of care. A medical professional must be able of predicting outcomes based on their education and experience.

Damages

In medical malpractice cases, courts hear about monetary damages that are designed to compensate the victim. These damages could include past and future medical bills as well as lost wages, disfigurement and pain and loss of enjoyment of life. In some cases punitive damages could also be awarded. These are reserved for particularly serious behavior that society has an interest in preventing.

A medical malpractice lawsuit begins by filing in court of a civil summons. The parties then engage in discovery. This is in which the defendant and plaintiff are required to give testimony under oath. This may include seeking medical records or other documents as well as deposing parties involved in a lawsuit as well as interviewing witnesses.

One of the primary elements to prove in a medical malpractice case is that the physician had a legal duty to provide medical care and treatment to the patient. The other element to prove is that the doctor violated that duty by failing to adhere to the medical standard of care. The third factor is that the breach resulted in injury to the patient.

It is crucial to understand that the statutes of limitations (the legally prescribed time period within which a lawsuit for medical malpractice must be filed) vary from state state. In New York, the statute of limitations is two years and six months (30 months) from the date on which the underlying act of medical malpractice took place.