Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation
The process of bringing a malpractice lawsuit is a complex procedure. If the error constitutes malpractice depends on the ability of the patient to establish four legal elements which include professional duty and breach of this duty; injury due to the breach and quantifiable damages.
Plaintiffs must prove these elements through evidence like expert testimony, depositions, and discovery.
Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose
Failure to diagnose an injury or illness accurately can result in serious complications, or death. Many medical malpractice cases involve incorrect diagnosis. To prove negligence the patient or their attorney must prove that a competent physician under similar circumstances and working in the same field would not have missed the diagnosis.
Misdiagnosis doesn't always mean malpractice. Even the most skilled and trained doctors make mistakes, therefore an allegation of malpractice needs to be backed by other elements like breach, proximate causation and actual injury. For instance when a doctor is not careful to sterilize their equipment prior to giving anesthesia and the patient suffers an infection due to the infection the doctor may be guilty of malpractice.
In most instances, lawsuits claiming that there was a mistake will be filed in the state trial court where the malpractice was alleged to have occurred. However, federal courts could be able to handle cases in certain circumstances. For instance, a claim may be brought in federal court if it is disputes over the statute of limitations or when there is a significant variety of citizenship among the parties in the case. Some claims are settled by arbitration that is binding and voluntary. This is a less formal procedure that involves professionals who make the decisions. It is intended to save costs, speed up legal proceedings and remove the risk of overly generous juries. Arbitration is not available in all instances of misconduct.
Dosage of a drug that is incorrect
Medication errors are one of the main causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. They can result from a doctor writing a prescription incorrectly or giving the wrong dosage to a patient. These errors are typically preventable. In the event of an incident the situation, a pharmacist, a hospital or other health care provider could be held accountable for the harm caused by a patient who was given the wrong dosage of a medication.
A doctor could prescribe the incorrect medication to a patient as a result of an incorrect diagnosis or simply because he/she misreads the prescription. A health care professional could also prescribe the wrong dosage because of an inability to communicate for example, when nurses read the handwritten prescription of a doctor incorrectly or the pharmacist makes an error in filling out the prescription. In other cases, a physician might delay administering the correct medication to the patient, which could result in their condition worsening.
To win a malpractice case, a victim must establish that the medical professional breached their standard of care, and that the negligence directly contributed to the injuries. This requires medical experts to be able to testify. A medical
malpractice law firms case also must prove the extent and damages of the victim's injuries. This includes the cost of treatment and any lost wages. The more the loss the greater the value of the claim.
Unskillful Procedure
It might seem absurd for medical professionals to perform the wrong procedure on a patient but this type of mishap occurs. A surgeon who commits this mistake could be held accountable for malpractice. If a patient is injured due to an error in surgery could be held liable for any errors that occured during the procedure.
Any health professional who is alleged to be negligent must show that the patient was harmed due to a specific act or failure to act. To prove this the legal team representing the patient must show that: (1) the doctor was bound by a duty to provide care or treatment; (2) that the doctor breached the duty of care; (3) that there is a direct causal relationship between the breach and the injury and (4) that the injury results in damages that the legal system can be able to address.
A breach of the duty of care is meaningless unless it causes injury this is why medical malpractice lawsuits (
Fpcom`s recent blog post) are generally founded on a legal principle called "res ipsa loquitur." This law states that, in the majority of cases certain injuries are so obvious and recognizable that they can only be explained through negligent actions.
Based on the facts of the situation, the plaintiff (the patient or their legally designated representative) or their attorney can file the claim in federal or state court. Most malpractice cases are filed in state courts, however in certain circumstances medical malpractice lawsuits can be filed in federal district court.
Wrong Surgery
The wrong-site surgery is rare but it can be considered medical malpractice when the procedure is done in the wrong part of your body. This type of error is usually caused by a lack of communication between the surgical team, or production pressures that result in surgeons having multiple surgeries at once. In these instances the surgeon isn't solely accountable for a mistaken-site operation because of the legal principle of "res ipsa locquitur", which states that the outcome speaks for itself and cannot be blamed on negligence.
If an individual is injured in a wrong-site procedure the patient may require additional procedures in order to correct problems that were made worse by the error. Patients and their family members are left with hefty medical bills. It is important to keep these costs in mind when calculating the financial costs of medical malpractice claims.
The majority of times surgeons are held accountable for surgical mistakes. They are accountable for preparing the patient for surgery, reviewing the medical records and chart of the patient, coordinating with the medical personnel, and ensuring that the incision was placed in the correct place. In some cases, a hospital or anesthesiologist may also be held responsible. Medical malpractice claims are usually filed in state courts, however, in certain situations, they can be transferred to federal court.