How to File a Medical Malpractice Case
A patient who finds an object foreign to her body, such as surgical clamps within her body following gall bladder surgery may bring a lawsuit against a doctor for medical negligence. A successful claim must demonstrate the elements of medical malpractice: duty, deviance from the norm and direct cause.
Our clients must establish a direct connection between the breach of duty, and the injury. This is known as the proximate cause.
Causes of Injury
A medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed by the injured patient or a legal person to represent them. It could be the spouse, adult child guardian, parent or administrator of a deceased patient’s estate, based on the circumstances. The plaintiff in a lawsuit for medical malpractice is the health professional. This could be a licensed doctor, nurse or therapist.
Expert testimony is often required in malpractice cases. Medical experts are required to determine if the healthcare provider acted within the standard of care in their special area of expertise. They also have to testify about the injury caused by the physician’s actions or actions or.
The consequences of malpractice and negligence can be quite severe. An incorrect diagnosis can lead to serious consequences, like a life-threatening condition. Other types of injuries can involve 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 that the physician owed to them; a breach of this duty; a resultant injury and damages. In some states, such as New York, the law sets a limit on the amount of money that could be awarded in a malpractice claim.
Causation
The injury element, also referred to as causation is one of the most important elements of west point medical malpractice attorney malpractice cases. To prove causation the plaintiff must prove that they suffered their injury on the basis of probabilities because of the negligence of the doctor. This is a difficult task due to a variety of reasons.
Many of the injuries that form the basis for medical negligence lawsuits result from long-term or ongoing issues that existed before treatment started. The statute of limitations on a medical malpractice lawsuit can be extended over the course of several years, and injuries can develop slowly.
In these cases it is often difficult to prove that a specific medical professional’s breach of the standard of care led to the injury. The attorney could have collected evidence, including expert testimony and medical records, that the injured patient may use.
During the discovery process, which is part of the legal procedure prepping for trial, your lawyer could request disclosure of expert testimony and other documents from the defense attorneys of the defendants. The doctor defending the lawsuit will then be called to testify during deposition, which is testimony under oath. Your lawyer may challenge the doctor’s findings and cross-examine them. The jury will decide whether the plaintiff has proved that the allegations of the case are true including breach of duty and causation.
Negligence
The plaintiff must convince the jury in a case of medical malpractice, that it is likely that the physician violated his or her responsibilities as a doctor and that these mistakes led to injuries. The plaintiff’s attorney has to be able to prove this by utilizing evidence collected during discovery. This includes seeking documents, such as medical records as well as other documents from all parties in a lawsuit. This process also involves sworn declarations that are recorded and used at trial.
A doctor has breached their professional duty if they did something a reasonable prudent physician would not have done in similar circumstances. It must be proved that the breach caused the injury directly to the patient. This is referred to as causation, or causal proximate causes. For example, a patient goes to the hospital for a procedure to treat a hernia and is later told that he or his gall bladder removed instead. This is anderson medical malpractice Attorney negligence as the removal did not benefit the patient.
Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within the legal period, referred to as the statute of limitations. This differs from state-to-state. The patient who was injured must show that the inadequate treatment caused injury, and then they have to prove the amount of compensation they’re entitled to.
Damages
If medical negligence has led you to suffer an injury, you should be compensated. At Scaffidi & Associates, we can assist you to receive the full and fair compensation for your loss.
The first step is to file and serve a summons and complaint to all defendants named in the lawsuit. The parties then engage in discovery, a process in which documents and statements are disclosed under oath. Medical records and the doctor’s notes are typically requested during discovery.
In most states, you need to prove four things to be compensated for the injuries caused by medical malpractice such as a duty due to the healthcare provider and a breach of the duty; a causal connection between the breach and the injury suffered by the patient; and damages that flow from the injury. If your attorney can establish all of these elements, then you’ve got a strong case for financial compensation in a medical negligence claim.
In some cases courts may give punitive damages, which are intended to punish the offender and deter others from committing the same offense. This is rare however, in medical malpractice cases. The courts must have a clear evidence of malice before they are able to award these extraordinary damages.