How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who finds an object foreign to her body, such as surgical clamps in her body after gall bladder surgery may bring a lawsuit against a doctor for medical negligence. A successful lawsuit must prove the legal elements of medical negligence: duty, deviance from this duty, direct cause, and injury.

It is important for our clients to establish a direct link between the breach of duty and the damage which is referred to as proximate cause.

Cause of Injury

A medical malpractice claim can be filed by the injured person or a person who is legally authorized to represent them. Based on the circumstances, this may be the spouse of the patient or an adult child parent, guardian ad litem, or the executor or administrator of the estate of the patient who died. The plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit is the health care provider. This could be a doctor, nurse or therapist, or any other licensed health professional.

Malpractice cases typically involve an abundance of expert testimony. Medical experts must be able to prove whether or not the health care provider was in compliance with the standard of care for their specific area. They also have to testify to the damage caused by the actions or inactions of the doctor.

Injuries that result from malpractice or negligence can be quite severe. For instance, a wrong diagnosis of a health issue could have life-threatening effects. Other kinds of injuries include operating on the wrong body part or leaving instruments inside the patient during surgery.

The patient must establish four legal elements of a malpractice lawsuit that include a duty owed to the patient by the doctor and a breach of that obligation; a harm caused by the breach and the resulting damages. In some states, such as New York, the law places a limit on the amount that can be awarded in an injury resulting from a malpractice claim.

Causation

The injury element, also known as causation is one of the most important elements of medical malpractice cases. To establish causation, the plaintiff must prove that the injury was the result of the doctor's negligence. This is a challenging task due to a variety of reasons.

For example, many injuries that are the subject of a medical-malpractice lawsuit stem from long-term, or ongoing ailments that were in the process of being treated prior to. Often the statute of limitation for a medical negligence claim extends over a number of years, and injuries may develop slowly.

In these cases, proving that a medical professional's failure to adhere to the standard of care which led to the injury can be difficult. The attorney could have collected evidence, including medical records and expert testimony that the patient who was injured may use.

During the discovery procedure, which is a part of the legal process prepping for a trial your attorney can request that the lawyers representing the defendants disclose expert testimony and other documents. The doctor defending the lawsuit will then be asked to testify during depositions, which are testimony given under oath. Your lawyer can challenge doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will then decide if the plaintiff has proved the essential elements of their case, including breach of duty, causation, breach of duty and injury.

Negligence

The plaintiff must convince the jury, in a case of medical malpractice, that it is more likely that the doctor did not fulfill his or her duties as physician and that the violations caused injury. The plaintiff's attorney must demonstrate this through evidence gathered during pretrial discovery. This involves soliciting documents, including medical records, from all parties involved in the lawsuit. This also includes sworn statements that are recorded and used in trial.

A doctor was in breach of his or her professional obligation when he/she did something that a reasonable prudent doctor would not do under the same circumstances. However it must be proven that the breach directly caused injury to the patient. This is called causation or the proximate cause. A patient may visit the hospital to have a hernia fixed, but instead end up having their gall bladder removed. This is medical malpractice because the removal of the gall bladder did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a legally regulated time frame, known as the statute of limitations, medical Malpractice Lawsuits which varies by state. The patient who is injured must prove that the care provided was substandard and caused injury and then show how much compensation he or she is entitled to.

Damages

You deserve to be compensated for any injuries that you've suffered due to medical negligence. At Scaffidi & Associates, we can assist you in obtaining full and fair compensation for your losses.

The first step in a lawsuit is to make a complaint and serve it or summons, as well as other documents on all defendants. The parties are involved in discovery. This is in which documents and declarations are revealed under the oath. medical malpractice attorney records and the notes of a doctor are typically requested during discovery.

In the majority of states, to receive compensation for injuries sustained through malpractice, you need to prove four things: a duty of care that the healthcare provider is obligated to perform, a breach of this obligation; a causal connection between the breach and injury; and damages resulting from the injury. If your lawyer can prove all of these elements, you can make a an extremely strong case for financial recovery in a medical malpractice attorney malpractice claim.

In certain instances, a court may decide to award punitive damages. These are intended to penalize the offender and deter others from engaging in the same conduct. However, this is rare in medical malpractice cases, as courts require specific proof of malice to award these awe-inspiring awards.