What Is a Medical Malpractice Claim?

A medical malpractice claim is a patient complaining about carelessness of a healthcare worker. The patient (or the estate of the patient should the patient die) must show that the negligence led to injury or harm.

Lawsuits alleging medical malpractice are generally filed in state trial courts. In order to win a lawsuit the party who is claiming damages must prove four elements of law:

Duty of care

To establish a legal claim, a plaintiff has to show that he or she was in the position of being owed a duty by another person or organization and that they failed to perform the obligation. In medical malpractice cases this is the duty of doctors to provide the proper standard of care for their patients. Expert testimony is often used to establish this.

Expert witnesses can help determine appropriate standards of medical treatment and then reveal how a doctor departed from these standards when treating patients. A plaintiff's medical malpractice attorney must then prove that the error was directly accountable for the injury of the victim.

Expert testimony is crucial since jurors are often not familiar with anatomy and have watched a lot medical dramas. This is particularly important in medical malpractice claims as it can be difficult to establish a standard of care. In a medical malpractice case the standard refers the level of skill in the field, the quality of care provided and the level of diligence that other physicians in similar specialties possess in similar circumstances.

The majority of experts in medical malpractice claims are surgeons or physicians who have the same training and board certifications. Due to the "conspiracy of silence" among a lot of doctors (a term lawyers employ to describe the tendency of doctors to not admit to a case against one another) it can be difficult to locate an expert who is qualified to be a witness against a colleague for the care that is not up to par.

Breach of duty

Medical negligence occurs when a physician is negligent and hurts the patient. The mistakes could cause new injuries or make existing ones worse. Medical malpractice claims involve complex issues and laws, which makes them difficult to prove. An experienced medical malpractice attorney will examine your case to determine whether a doctor has breached their duty to you.

Your attorney will establish a doctor-patient connection between you and your physician which is required to prove a malpractice claim. Your attorney will also look into the actions and decisions of your physician to determine if they complied with what is referred to as the standard of care for doctors with similar backgrounds, training and geographical location within your state.

Doctors owe it to their patients to abide by these standards without omission or deviation. A breach of that duty means that the doctor did not meet those standards and caused injury to you.

Proving the breach of duty is typically straightforward with the help of the research of your attorney and expert witnesses. Experts can testify to the reasons why the doctor's actions did or did not conform to the standards of care and then explain how a medical professional in similar circumstances would have behaved differently. Your lawyer should also be able to link the breach of duty to your injuries and damages. Your lawyer will review your medical records tests, prescriptions, test results and imaging scans in order to construct a solid case that your physician's breach of duty directly contributed to your injuries.

Causation

Medical errors can increase the dangers of many treatments. To prove the causality, the injured patient must establish that there is a direct link between the alleged negligence of a doctor and their injury. In the majority of cases, expert testimony is required as well as assistance from an attorney for medical malpractice.

For instance, a mistake in diagnosing a condition or a serious illness is a common medical error. The failure of a doctor to recognize cancer, or any other condition may have serious implications for a patient. In this instance the patient may suffer unnecessarily pain and may even end up dying. The doctor could have committed malpractice by not diagnosing the issue properly.

Proving that a hospital or doctor did not treat you properly isn't easy and takes a lot of time. Evidence can come from a variety of sources, including medical records and test results, Medical Malpractice Attorney as well as expert witness testimony and depositions. Your attorney can assist in obtaining and understanding the evidence, as well as assisting you during the process of depositions.

It is important to know that only healthcare professionals can be sued for malpractice. Nurses and doctors, in contrast to receptionists working in medical centers are expected to follow the current standards of care. That means that medical professionals must be able of predicting the outcomes from their skills and knowledge.

Damages

In medical malpractice claims the courts consider monetary damages to compensate the injured person. These damages can include future or past medical bills, loss of wages or income, Medical Malpractice Attorney pain and disfigurement, or loss of enjoyment living. In some cases, punitive damages may also be awarded; these are reserved for particularly egregious actions that society is interested in preventing.

A medical malpractice lawsuit begins by filing in court of an administrative summons. Then, the parties will engage in discovery, which is a process that requires the plaintiff and defendants will make public statements under the oath. This can include requesting documents like medical records, taking depositions of 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 doctor was under a legal duty to provide care and treatment to the patient. The second thing to prove is that the doctor violated the obligation by failing to follow the medical standard of care. The third element is that the breach resulted in injury to the patient.

It is vital to be aware that the statutes of limitations (the legally-required time frame within which an action for medical malpractice has to be filed) differ from state the state. In New York, the statute of limitations is two years and six months (30 months) from the date on which the act that led to medical malpractice law firms malpractice occurred.