Medical Malpractice Law

Even with the best training and an oath to do no harm, medical mistakes could happen. When medical errors are made and the consequences for patients could be devastating.

Malpractice law is a sub-field of tort law that focuses on professional negligence. A malpractice suit must satisfy four main requirements.

Malpractice claims in the United States are typically filed in state trial courts. To collect evidence, a variety of legal tools are employed for depositions, such as those taken under an oath.

Duty of care

If you are in the relationship of a doctor-patient, a doctor is responsible for caring to you. This is true whether the doctor is treating you in a hospital, or in your own home. However, there are some circumstances where doctors can be accountable for malpractice, even without the existence of a patient-doctor relationship.

A person who is obligated to perform a duty to care must act in a way that an ordinary person would under the circumstances. For example, a motorist is required to be careful when driving and to not cause injury to others on the road. If the driver does not adhere to this obligation and causes an accident, the driver can be held liable for any injuries that result.

Doctors are responsible for their patients' care at all times. This is true even when a doctor is not your official doctor such as when you ask an expert to provide advice in an elevator or a restaurant. Good Samaritan laws often limit the duty to be a good Samaritan.

Medical professionals are also bound by a duty of care to inform their patients about the risks involved in certain procedures and treatments. Failure to do this is a violation of the duty of care owed to doctors. Doctors can also violate their duty of care when they give you a medication that is known to interact with other medications that you are taking.

Breach of duty

Generally speaking, doctors owe patients the obligation of providing medical care that meets the accepted standard of practice. This standard is established by the laws of the present and by standards developed by medical associations. If a physician fails to meet this obligation, they are acting negligently. A malpractice law firms lawyer will investigate the evidence to determine whether the standard of care was breached.

A doctor can violate their duty of care in many ways. It is not just a matter of whether they did something an ordinary person wouldn't in the same situation, it also covers what they should have done and did not do. It is often necessary to have expert witness testimony to determine what the accepted medical standard of practice would have been.

A doctor may have violated their duty of care if they prescribe a medication that interacts dangerously with another drug. This is a common error that can result in serious consequences for your health.

It is not enough to show that malpractice occurred. To be awarded damages, you have to show that there was a direct link between the breach of duty by the doctor and your injury or illness. This is referred to as causation. In some instances, it can be difficult to establish the connection. A knowledgeable malpractice attorney will do their best to locate the evidence necessary to prove the connection.

Causation

A malpractice claim can be substantiated only if the plaintiff can show that the defendant's negligence resulted in the injury and losses. To prove medical negligence, it is necessary to use of expert testimony to establish that a relationship between the patient and the provider existed and that the provider violated the accepted standard of care. It is essential that the harm suffered by someone be directly connected to the act or omission that breached the standard. This is called causality or proximate causes.

It is important to demonstrate that the negligence of the attorney led to significant negative consequences for you when you are proving that the attorney committed legal malpractice. A lawsuit can be costly so you need to be able prove that your losses are more than the cost of litigation. The plaintiff has to also prove that the negligence caused tangible and quantifiable damages.

Most malpractice cases are subject to the discovery process, which includes oral depositions. Your lawyer can represent you during these depositions, asking questions of the defense experts to challenge their conclusions and to prove that the evidence backs your claims. A medical malpractice lawyer with experience is essential to your case as establishing the four elements of a case, including duty breach, causation, and harm, can be a challenge and time consuming. Your lawyer will guide you through each step. The more steps you take, the greater your chances of winning.

Damages

The amount of compensation a patient will receive in a medical malpractice claim depends on the severity of their injuries, as well as how much money they'll require to pay medical bills, lost income, or any other financial loss. In some cases the plaintiff may be awarded punitive damages in order to punish the doctor for their actions. However, they are not common since doctors must have committed a deliberate or reckless act to be awarded punitive damages.

The law requires that anyone seeking medical malpractice prove four elements or legal requirements: (1) there was a duty of care on the part of the physician; (2) the doctor violated this duty by a deviation from the accepted standards of practice; (3) as a result of the doctor's lapse, the victim suffered injury and (4) the harm can be quantified in terms of a monetary amount. Additionally the person who was injured must bring a lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitations, which varies by state.

The law recognizes the fact that medical malpractice lawsuits can be costly and complicated to resolve, particularly if they involve complex questions like proximate reasons or foreseeability. Its aim is to grant victims the justice they are entitled to, without allowing unjustified and opportunistic lawsuits clog up courts. It also aims to cut costs by requiring that all defendants bear the responsibility for a claim's success (joint and several liability) while limiting the amount a plaintiff is able to recover if other defendants lack funds to pay ("damage caps) and also preventing doctors from practicing defensive medicine, which entails altering their treatment plans in response to the danger of malpractice lawsuits.