What Is a Medical Malpractice Claim?

A medical malpractice claim is the patient claiming the negligence of a healthcare professional. The patient (or his or her estate should the patient die) must show that the negligence resulted in injury or harm.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are usually filed in state trial courts. The patient who is aggrieved must demonstrate four legal elements in order to win the case:

Duty of care

In any legal action, the plaintiff has to prove that a person or entity owed them a duty of care and then failed to fulfill this duty. In the case of medical malpractice, this involves a physician's duty to provide their patients with the appropriate standard of medical care. Expert testimony is usually used to determine this.

Expert witnesses can help determine the appropriate medical standards and then show how a doctor deviated from these standards in their treatment of the patient. A plaintiff's medical malpractice attorney must prove that the error was directly accountable for the injury of the victim.

Expert testimony is vital as jurors are typically not knowledgeable about anatomy and have seen a lot of medical dramas. In the case of medical malpractice it is crucial because it is often difficult to establish the standards of care. In the context of a medical malpractice case the standard of care refers to the level of skill in the treatment, its quality and the level of diligence displayed by other doctors in comparable areas of expertise in similar circumstances.

Experts in medical malpractice cases are typically fellow physicians or surgeons who have similar training and certification. It is often difficult to find an expert willing to testify against substandard treatment because of the "conspiracy" of silence among doctors.

Breach of duty

When a doctor commits an error which harms the patient, it is considered medical malpractice. These errors can cause new injuries or even worsen existing ones. Medical malpractice claims are challenging to prove due to complex laws and issues. A good medical malpractice attorney will review your case to determine whether a doctor has breached their duty to you.

Your attorney will establish a doctor-patient relation between you and your doctor, which is necessary for any malpractice claim. Your attorney will also look into your doctor's actions and decisions to determine if they met what is referred to as the standard of care for Medical Malpractice Attorney doctors of similar training, background and geographical location in your state.

Doctors owe it to their patients to observe these standards without deviation or omission. A breach of duty implies that the doctor didn't meet your expectations and this failure caused you injury.

Proving a breach of duty is typically straightforward with the help of your attorney's research and expert witnesses. Those experts can testify as to how the doctor's actions do not meet the standards of care and explain how another medical professional in similar circumstances might have performed differently. Your lawyer must also tie the breach of duty with your injuries and damages. Your lawyer will review your medical documents, test and prescription results, imaging scans and prescriptions in order to build an argument that proves the breach of duty committed by your doctor directly led to your injuries.

Causation

Most treatments carry a level of risk, but medical errors can exacerbate those risks. To prove the causation, the patient must establish an immediate connection between the alleged negligence of the doctor and the injury. In the majority of cases, expert testimony is required, along with assistance from a medical malpractice attorney.

For instance, misdiagnosing a condition or a serious illness is a frequent medical error. If doctors fail to detect cancer or another condition it could result in severe consequences for the patient. In this scenario the patient could experience unnecessary pain and even die. In the absence of diagnosing the condition properly the doctor could have committed a mistake.

The process of proving that your doctor or hospital did not treat you properly can be a long and complicated process. The evidence required could come from a variety of sources, such as medical records and test results as well as expert witness testimony and oral depositions. Your lawyer can help you in obtaining and understanding this evidence, as well as representing you in the process of depositions.

It is also important to remember that only a healthcare professional is liable for malpractice. Doctors and nurses, in contrast to receptionists working in medical centers are expected to follow the current standards of medical care. This means that medical malpractice lawsuit professionals must be able to foresee consequences based on their skills and knowledge.

Damages

In medical malpractice cases, courts will be hearing about financial compensations to pay compensation to injured patients. These damages could include future and past medical bills as well as lost wages, pain and suffering, disfigurement and loss of enjoyment of life. In certain cases the punitive damages may be awarded; these are reserved for Medical malpractice attorney the most egregious behavior that society is interested in stopping.

A medical malpractice case begins by filing in court of a civil summons. The parties then engage in discovery, a procedure where the plaintiffs and defendants make statements under oath. This could involve requesting the exchange of documents like medical records, taking depositions from parties involved in the lawsuit and conducting interviews with witnesses.

One of the first elements to prove in a medical malpractice case is that the doctor was under the legal obligation of providing care and treatment to the patient. The second is that the doctor violated this duty by not adhering to the medical standards of practice. The third element is that the breach caused harm to the patient.

It is important to remember that the statute of limitations (the legally-defined time frame within which a medical malpractice 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 when the underlying incident of medical malpractice occurred.