What Is a Medical Malpractice Claim?
A medical malpractice claim involves a patient who complains of the negligence of a healthcare professional. The patient (or his or her estate if the patient died) must prove that the negligence led to injury or harm.
Legal actions claiming medical malpractice are generally filed in state trial courts. The patient who is affronted must prove four legal aspects to win the case:
Duty of care
To prove a legal claim, the plaintiff must prove that he or she was owed a duty of duty by a third party and that they failed to meet it. In medical malpractice cases this is the physician's duty to provide their patients with the proper standard of care. Expert testimony is typically used to establish this.
Expert witnesses can help determine appropriate standards of medicine and then show the ways in which a physician has deviated from these standards while treating patients. A plaintiff's medical malpractice attorney must then prove that this error was directly responsible for the victim's injury.
Expert testimony is essential because jurors are usually not familiar with anatomy and have watched a lot medical dramas. This is especially relevant in medical malpractice claims as it is difficult to establish a minimum standard of care. In the context of a medical malpractice claim, the standard of care is referred to the skill level as well as the quality of treatment and degree of diligence possessed by other physicians in similar specialties in similar situations.
Experts in medical malpractice cases are usually fellow physicians or surgeons who have similar training and certification. Due to the "conspiracy of silence" among many doctors (a term lawyers use to describe the tendency of doctors not to admit to a case against each other) It is often difficult to find an expert with the right qualifications to provide evidence against a colleague in relation to sub-standard care.
Breach of duty
When a doctor commits an error that causes harm to the patient, this is medical malpractice. These mistakes can cause new injuries or make existing ones worse. Medical malpractice claims are challenging to prove because they involve complex laws and issues. A good
medical malpractice attorney will review your case to determine if the doctor has violated their obligation to you.
Your attorney will establish a doctor-patient relation between you and your physician that is required to prove a malpractice claim. Your attorney will also review your physician's actions and decisions to determine whether they complied with what is referred to as the standard of care for doctors of similar education, background and geographical location in your state.
Physicians have a duty to adhere to the standards that are set by their patients without omission or deviation. Breaching that duty means the doctor did not meet those standards and resulted in harm to you.
Proving the breach of duty is usually simple with the help of your attorney's research and expert witnesses. Experts can testify to the reasons why the doctor's actions do not conform to the standards of care and explain how another medical professional in similar circumstances might have performed differently. Your lawyer must also connect the breach of duty to your injuries and damages. Your attorney will scrutinize your medical records, test and prescription results, imaging scans, and prescriptions to build an argument that the breach of duty committed by your physician directly caused your injuries.
Causation
Medical mistakes can increase the risk of a wide range of treatments. To prove the causation of a malpractice claim the patient who has been injured must prove a direct connection between the alleged negligence and their injury. In many instances, expert testimony is required, along with assistance of a
medical malpractice attorney.
For instance, misdiagnosing an illness or disease is a common error. If a doctor fails to recognize cancer, or any other condition could have grave consequences for a patient. In this scenario the patient may suffer inexpensive suffering and possibly even death. By failing to diagnose the problem correctly the doctor could have committed a lapse of judgment.
Proving that your doctor, or hospital was negligent in treating you isn't easy and takes a lot of time. Evidence can come from a range of sources, such as medical records or test results, expert witness testimony and depositions. Your attorney can assist with obtaining and interpreting the evidence, as well representing you in the process of depositions.
It is also important to know that only a healthcare professional can be sued for malpractice. Unlike receptionists at
medical malpractice law firms centers nurses and doctors are expected to operate according to the standards of care. That means that medical professionals should be able to predict the effects from their skills and knowledge.
Damages
In medical malpractice cases, courts hear about monetary damages that are intended to compensate the injured person. These types of damages can include past and future medical bills loss of wages, disfigurement, pain and suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. In some cases, punitive damages are granted in certain cases. They are reserved for egregious acts that society wants to discourage.
A medical malpractice lawsuit begins with the filing in the court of a civil summons. The parties will then engage in discovery. This is that requires both parties to give statements under oath. This could involve requesting the exchange of documents, such as medical records, taking depositions from parties involved in the lawsuit and conducting interviews with witnesses.
One of the most important elements to prove in a medical malpractice case is that the doctor had the legal obligation to provide healthcare and treatment to the patient. The other element to prove is that the doctor breached this duty by failing adhere to the medical standard of care. The third factor is that the breach resulted in injury to the patient.
It is important to remember that the statute of limitations (the legally prescribed period within which a medical negligence claim must be filed) differs from state to state. In New York, the statute of limitations is two years and six months (30 months) from the date on when the underlying incident of medical malpractice took place.