Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation is a tense process. If a person can prove four elements, it will decide whether or not the error is a case of malpractice. These are the following: a professional obligation or breach of that duty; an injury resulting from this breach; and measurable damages.

Plaintiffs must demonstrate these elements with evidence like expert testimony, depositions, and discovery.

Incorrect diagnosis or failure to diagnose

Inability to recognize an illness or injury accurately can result in serious complications, or death. A large number of medical malpractice cases involve misdiagnosis. To prove negligence, the patient or their lawyer must demonstrate that a competent doctor under similar circumstances and in the same specialty would not have misdiagnosed the condition.

It is not always a case of malpractice, however. Even highly-trained and experienced doctors are not immune to mistakes. Therefore, a claim of malpractice must be backed up by other elements such as breach, proximate reason and actual injury. For instance, if a physician fails to properly clean their equipment prior the time they administer anesthesia, and the patient develops an infection due to the infection the doctor could be liable for Malpractice Lawyers.

In the majority of cases, lawsuits alleging malpractice will be filed in the state trial court in which the alleged malpractice took place. However, federal courts could be able to hear cases in specific circumstances. For instance, a lawsuit may be brought in federal court if there is an issue regarding the statute of limitations or when there is a substantial difference in citizenship among those involved in the dispute. Certain disputes are settled via binding arbitration. This is a less formal process which involves professional decision makers and is designed to cut costs, speed up legal proceedings and reduce the risk of overly generous juries. Arbitration is not available in all cases of malpractice.

The wrong dosage of medication

Medication errors, often referred to as medication mistakes are among the main causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. They can be caused by a physician prescribing a prescription in error or delivering the wrong dose to patients. These errors are usually preventable. According to the circumstances, a pharmacy, a hospital or other health care providers could be held accountable for the injuries caused by a patient who was given the wrong dosage of a medication.

A doctor might prescribe the wrong drug because of a misdiagnosis or simply misreading the prescription. A health professional could also give the wrong dosage due to a failure in communication. For instance, a nurse may interpret a doctor's prescription incorrectly or a pharmacist might make a mistake when filling the prescription. In other cases the doctor may delay in administering the correct medication to the patient, resulting in their condition worsening.

To prevail in a malpractice case, a victim must prove that the medical professional acted in breach of their standards of care and that negligence directly caused the injuries. This requires the testimony of a medical expert. In addition, a medical mishap case must prove the extent of the victim's injuries as well as the damage they sustained as a result of the negligence. This includes the cost of treatment and any lost wage. Generally, the greater a loss is and the greater the value of the claim will be.

Incorrect Procedure

It's not likely that medical professionals could perform the wrong procedure on a patient but this type of incident is quite common. A surgeon who makes this mistake could be held liable for malpractice. Patients who are injured because of an error in surgery could be held liable for any errors that occured during the procedure.

A health care professional accused of negligence must prove that a patient was injured by an act or failure to take action. To establish this the legal team representing the patient must prove: (1) that the doctor was obligated to provide care or treat the patient; (2) that he violated his duty; (3) that a causal link exists between the breach and injury and (4) the injury causes damages that which the legal system may address.

A breach of duty of care is no significance unless it results in injury. This is the reason why medical malpractice cases are typically founded on the legal doctrine "res ipsa locquitur," which says that certain injuries are so obvious they can be explained only by negligence.

Depending on the facts, the plaintiff (the person who filed the claim, or their legal representative) or their attorney may choose to file either in state or federal court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed in state court, but in certain circumstances, a medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

The wrong-site procedure is rare, but can be considered medical malpractice in the event that the procedure is carried out in the wrong location of your body. This kind of error is typically the result of miscommunication between the members of a surgical team, or production pressure that results in the surgeon being tasked with multiple surgeries simultaneously. In these cases, the surgeon is not all-in on his responsibility for a surgical error that is not performed correctly because there is a legal rule known as "res ipsa loquitur" which means that the effect of the error is evident and cannot be attributed to negligence.

If a patient is injured due to surgery performed on the wrong site it is possible that he or she will require additional procedures to correct problems that are aggravated due to the surgical error. This could result in expensive medical expenses for patients as well as their families. These expenses should be taken into consideration when calculating the financial impact of medical malpractice lawsuits.

Surgeons are usually held liable for surgical errors as they are the ones who are responsible for properly making preparations for the operation by double-checking patient's chart and medical records, coordinating effectively with the other members of the medical team and making sure the incision is done at the correct place. However, in certain instances hospitals or anesthesiologists may also be liable. Medical malpractice claims are generally filed in state court but they may be transferred under certain circumstances to federal court.