Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation is a tense process. The degree to which an error constitutes malpractice depends on the ability of the patient to prove four legal elements: a professional duty breach of this duty; injury resulted from the breach and tangible damages.

Plaintiffs must be able to prove the elements using evidence such as expert testimony and depositions.

Incorrect diagnosis and inability to diagnose

A physician's inability to accurately diagnose an illness or injury could lead to grave complications, or even death. Incorrect diagnosis is a common reason for medical malpractice law firm. To show negligence, the patient or their lawyer must demonstrate that an experienced doctor in similar circumstances would not have misdiagnosed a problem.

Every misdiagnosis can be considered to be malpractice, however. Even the most skilled and trained doctors make mistakes. Therefore, the claim of malpractice must be supported by other elements like breach, proximate causality and actual injury. If a doctor fails sterilize his equipment prior to administering anesthesia, and the patient becomes infected due to this, the doctor may be liable.

In most instances, lawsuits claiming that there was a mistake will be filed in the state trial court in which the alleged error occurred. Federal courts can be able to handle the case in certain circumstances. For example, a claim could be filed in federal court in the event of a dispute over the statute of limitations or in the event of a significant variation in the citizenship of the parties to the case. Certain disputes are settled through binding voluntary arbitration. This is a less formal procedure that is governed by professional decision makers. It is designed to reduce expenses, speed up the legal process, and remove the risk of overly large juries. Arbitration is not always available in cases of misconduct.

The wrong dosage of medication

Medication errors, also known as medication mistakes, are one of the most frequent causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. They can involve a physician prescribing a prescription in error or administering the wrong dosage to a patient. These errors are generally preventable. According to the situation an individual pharmacy, hospital or other health care providers could be held accountable for injuries caused by a patient who was given the wrong dosage of a medication.

A doctor may prescribe the wrong medication to a patient because of an incorrect diagnosis or simply due to a misreading of the prescription. A health care professional could also prescribe the wrong dosage because of an issue with communication for example, when nurses read the doctor's handwritten script in error or the pharmacist makes a mistake in filling out the prescription. In other cases the doctor may delay the administration of the correct medication to the patient, resulting in their condition worsening.

A person seeking compensation must prove, in order to prevail on a Malpractice Lawyers claim, that the medical professional breached their standards of practice and that their injuries were directly attributed to the negligence. This requires medical experts to testify. A medical malpractice case must establish the extent and damages of the victim's injuries. This includes the cost of treatment as well as any wage loss. The greater person's losses are and the greater the value of the claim will be.

Incorrect Procedure

It might seem absurd that medical professionals could perform the incorrect procedure on a patient but this type of mishap is quite common. A surgeon who makes this error could be held accountable for negligence. However patients who are injured due to a surgical error can also be held accountable for any negligence that occurred on the path to the procedure.

A health care professional who is accused of malpractice must demonstrate that the patient was injured as a result of a specific act, or failure to take action. To prove this, the patient's legal team must prove that: (1) the doctor was in an obligation to provide treatment or treatment; (2) that the doctor breached the duty of care; (3) that there is a direct causal relationship between the breach and the injury and (4) that the injury results in damages that the legal system could be able to address.

A breach of duty of care is no meaning unless it results in injury. This is the reason why medical malpractice cases are usually founded on the legal doctrine "res ipsa locquitur" which says that certain injuries are so obvious that 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 lawyer could decide to file the claim in federal or state court. Most malpractice cases are filed in state court. However, in certain circumstances the medical malpractice lawsuit can be brought in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

The wrong-site surgery is a common error, but it can be considered medical negligence if the procedure is carried out on the wrong portion of the body. This type of mistake is usually caused by a lack of communication between members of the surgical team, or pressures on production that result in surgeons being assigned several surgeries to perform at the same time. In these cases the surgeon isn't solely responsible for an incorrect-site procedure because of the legal principle known as "res ipsa locquitur" which states that the result speaks for itself and cannot be attributed to negligence.

When a patient is injured by wrong-site surgery, he or she may require additional procedures to correct problems that are aggravated by the mistake. This results in costly medical bills for patients and their families. This expense should be taken into consideration when calculating the financial impact of medical malpractice lawsuits.

The majority of times surgeons are accountable for surgical mistakes. They are accountable for preparing the patient for the procedure, examining the medical record and chart of the patient, communicating with the medical staff, and making sure that the incision was placed in the correct place. However, in some instances an anesthesiologist or hospital may also be held responsible. Medical malpractice claims are usually filed in state courts. However, under certain circumstances they may be transferred to federal court.