How to File a Medical Malpractice Case
If a patient discovers that a foreign object like surgical clamps, remain inside her body after gall bladder surgery may file a medical malpractice lawsuit. A successful claim must establish the legal aspects of medical negligence: duty, deviance from this duty, direct cause, and injury.
Our clients must establish a direct connection between the breach of duty and the injury. This is known as proximate cause.
Causes of Injury
A medical negligence case may be initiated by the patient who was injured or a legal person to act on their behalf. Depending on the circumstances, this could be a spouse of the patient or an adult child, parent, guardian ad Litem or the administrator or executor of the estate of the deceased patient. In a medical negligence case, the defendant is the health care provider. This could be a nurse, doctor, therapist or any other licensed health care professional.
Malpractice cases typically involve many expert witnesses. Medical experts must provide evidence to prove that the health care provider was acting in accordance with the standards of care in their specific field of expertise. They must also testify about the injury that was caused by the physician's actions or inactions.
Injuries resulting from malpractice and negligence can be very severe. For instance, a misdiagnosis of a health condition can result in life-threatening consequences. Other types of injuries include operating on the wrong part or leaving instruments inside the patient during surgery.
To establish a malpractice case, the patient must prove four legal elements: a duty that the doctor owed to them; a breach of this duty, resulting injury; and damages. In some states such as New York the law limits the amount of money awarded in a malpractice case.
Causation
The injury element is called the causation. It is one of the most crucial elements in a medical malpractice claim. To establish causation the plaintiff must prove that the injury was caused by a physician's negligence. This is a challenging job due to various reasons.
Many of the injuries that form the basis for a medical negligence suit result from long-term or ongoing conditions that existed prior to when treatment started. The time limit for a
medical malpractice lawsuit can be extended over several years and injuries may develop slowly.
In these cases, proving that a
medical malpractice law firm professional's breached the standard of care and led to the injury is not easy. However, the person who was harmed could be able to use the evidence gathered by the attorney, like medical records and expert testimony.
During the discovery procedure that is part of the legal procedure for preparing for a trial, your lawyer can request the defendants' lawyers disclose expert testimony and other documents. The doctor who is defending the lawsuit is then required to testify in deposition, which is the testimony under an oath. Your lawyer can challenge doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will decide then if the plaintiff has proven the essential elements of their case including obligation, breach, causation and injury.
Negligence
If a claim for medical malpractice is filed the plaintiff has to convince the jury that it was more likely than not that the physician violated professional obligations and that those breached duties caused injuries. The attorney representing the plaintiff must prove this by using evidence collected during discovery. This involves seeking documents, such as medical records as well as other documents from all parties in the lawsuit. This process also includes the recording of sworn statements and used at trial.
A doctor has breached their professional obligation if they did something a reasonable and prudent doctor would not have done under similar circumstances. However it must be proven that the breach directly caused injury to the patient. This is referred to as causation or proximate cause. Patients may visit the hospital to repair a hernia but end up having their gall bladder removed. This is medical negligence as the procedure was not beneficial to the patient.
Medical malpractice suits must be filed within a specific legal timeframe, also known as the statute of limitations. This differs from state-to-state. The injured patient must establish that the substandard care caused injury, and then he or she must prove how much monetary compensation he or she is entitled to.
Damages
If medical negligence has caused you to suffer injury, you are entitled to be compensated. Scaffidi & Associates can help you get fair and complete compensation for your losses.
The first step is to file and serve the complaint and summons to all named defendants in the lawsuit. The parties then proceed to discovery, a process in which documents and declarations are made public under an oath. Medical records and the notes of a doctor are typically requested during discovery.
In the majority of states, you need to demonstrate four elements in order to be compensated for injuries caused by medical malpractice that is a duty owed by the healthcare provider and a breach of that obligation; a causal connection between the breach and the patient's injury; and damages that flow from the injury. If your lawyer can prove all of these elements, then you've got an excellent case for financial recovery in a claim for
medical malpractice lawyer malpractice.
In some instances the court might decide to award punitive damages that is designed to punish a wrongdoer, and deter others from engaging in similar acts. This isn't often however, particularly in medical malpractice cases. The courts must have a clear evidence of intent to commit a crime before they are able to decide to award these extraordinary damages.