Four Elements of a Medical Malpractice Case
Malpractice lawsuits are a real and feared threat for physicians. They drive up physician insurance costs and may alter the way doctors practice.
In general, doctors are under a duty to their patients to adhere to accepted
medical malpractice attorneys practices. This is referred to as the standard of care.
To successfully claim a doctor's malpractice, an aggrieved patient must demonstrate each of the following legal elements with a preponderance of evidence: breach of duty; causation; and damages.
Duty of Care
The first aspect of a medical malpractice case is that the person who was injured was bound by a duty of the doctor that was not met. Medical malpractice claims are different from other types of negligence cases because they typically involve a doctor-patient relationship, which is established through documents from a doctor or phone consultations. In general, physicians who treat their patients must adhere to the accepted guidelines in their field and practice.
However, doctors may also be accountable for the wrongful actions of their staff members, including interns or assistants. They can also be held accountable for the actions of emergency personnel who are under their supervision.
The plaintiff is then required to establish that the defendant did not meet the standard care under the circumstances. This can be proved with expert testimony about acceptable medical practices and the defendant's inability to adhere to these guidelines. The second factor is that the breach directly affected the patient. To prove this your lawyer must demonstrate a direct cause and effect between the defendant's breach of duty and your injury or your loved one's death. This is known as proximate causes. For example, if the negligent treatment that was alleged to have occurred wouldn't have had an adverse impact on your health, regardless whether it was performed or not, you won't be able to win damages for any injuries or wrongful deaths that were allegedly caused by the conduct of the physician.
Breach of Duty
A doctor who fails fulfill his or her duty of professional care to a patient may be held accountable for negligence. In order to succeed in a medical negligence lawsuit, the injured person must prove four legal aspects which include: a duty to provide professional care was owed and the doctor violated this duty; the breach caused injury; and the result led to damages. The first element of a
medical malpractice lawsuit revolves around the standard of care which is determined by expert testimony. The standard of care is the amount a "reasonably cautious" doctor would do in similar or similar circumstances.
The physician's breach of this obligation occurs when he or she is not following the standard of care while rendering treatment to the patient. For example, if the doctor breaks a patient's arm when he is not able to properly set the arm or fails to cast the broken arm. The doctor's lapse in duty causes the broken arm to heal improperly, which results in a complete or partial loss of use and subsequent monetary damages.
In most instances, medical malpractice lawsuits are filed with state trial courts. However in certain situations federal courts can be able to hear these cases. Each of the 94 federal district courts in the United States has a judge-jury panel that handles medical malpractice cases. A majority of states have special state courts that deal with these matters, albeit with different rules of court procedure than federal district courts.
Causation
A patient may be entitled compensation for damages if a physician fails to fulfill their duty to do no harm. A medical malpractice lawsuit could occur when a doctor chooses to perform a treatment that carries known risks, and the patient would have opted to not undergo the procedure if they had been fully informed of the potential consequences.
The plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit must prove that the medical professional failed to act in accordance with accepted guidelines for practice, and that this failure was the primary cause of the injury or illness the patient suffered and that the ailment could not have occurred except because of the negligence of a physician. This burden of proof is also known as the "preponderance of the evidence" standard that is less arduous than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard required to convict criminal defendants.
Medical malpractice lawsuits typically include expert witnesses and lengthy pretrial discovery processes. Both parties invest a lot of time and money preparing for a case, whether it's settled or if it is a court case. This is why malpractice claims can be expensive for both the physician and the plaintiff involved. It is also one of the main reasons why physicians and health groups are supportive of efforts to reform tort laws in the United States.
Damages
Victims can be awarded compensatory or punitive damages, based on the type of medical malpractice. Compensatory damages compensate patients for monetary losses and expenses resulted from the negligence of the doctor like loss of income or the cost of future medical treatments. Non-economic damages are compensation for physical pain as well as mental anxiety.
Medical malpractice claims are generally filed in a state trial court. There are instances when a lawsuit can be filed in federal courts. This is typically where a doctor is employed by a federally funded clinic such as the Veterans' Administration, or where the doctor is from a different country and is practicing in the United States under a treaty of extraterritorial jurisdiction.
Medical malpractice lawsuits are usually adversarial and require significant legal discovery. This includes written interrogatories and depositions as well as requests for documents. Victims of alleged medical negligence might also have to deal with the pressure of a jury trial and potentially face the threat of being rejected by a judge or dismissed by the jury.
You must demonstrate that medical negligence or mistake caused your injury to be able to make a case for medical negligence. The injury must be severe enough to warrant a monetary award that would cover your financial losses and emotional stress. In addition, New York medical malpractice laws provide for damages caps and other limitations on the amount that may be awarded to a patient who has a successful claim.