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How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who finds an object foreign to her body, such as surgical clamps inside her body following gall bladder surgery is able to make a claim for medical negligence. A successful lawsuit must establish the elements of medical malpractice: duty, deviation from the norm and direct cause.

Our clients must establish a direct connection between the breach of duty, and the injury. This is known as the proximate cause.

Causes of Injury

A medical negligence case may be filed by the injured patient or a person legally designated to represent them. It could be the spouse or adult child parent, guardian, or administrator of the estate of a deceased patient, based on the circumstances. In a case involving medical malpractice, the defendant is the health care provider. This could be a nurse, doctor, therapist or any other licensed health care professional.

Expert testimony is usually required in malpractice cases. Medical experts must testify as to whether or whether the health professional adhered to the standards of treatment for their particular field. They also have to testify to the harm caused by the doctor’s actions or inactions.

The consequences of malpractice and negligence can be extremely serious. For instance, a wrong diagnosis of a Clanton Medical Malpractice Lawsuit condition could have life-threatening effects. Other types of injuries include operating on the wrong part or putting instruments inside the patient during surgery.

The patient must prove four legal elements in a malpractice claim: a duty owed to the patient by the physician and a breach of this obligation; a harm caused by the breach and resulting damages. In some states, such as New York, the law puts a limit on amount of money that could be awarded in the malpractice claim.

Causation

The injury element, also referred to as causation, is one the most important elements of medical malpractice cases. To establish causation, the plaintiff must demonstrate that they suffered their injury on a balance of probabilities because due to the negligence of the doctor. This can be a difficult task for several reasons.

For instance, many of the injuries that are the subject of a medical malpractice lawsuit arise from long-term or ongoing illnesses that were in the process of being treated prior to. The time period for filing medical malpractice cases can be extended over a period of time and injuries may develop slowly.

In these cases the proof that a medical professional's violation of the standard of care and led to the injury can be difficult. However, the patient who is afflicted could be able to use the evidence gathered by the attorney, like medical documents and expert testimony.

During the process of discovery as part of the legal procedure for prepping for a trial your attorney can request that the defendants' lawyers disclose expert testimony and other documents. The doctor who is representing the case will be asked to take a deposition. This is a testimonies which is under oath. Your lawyer can challenge the doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will decide whether the plaintiff has substantiated all the elements of the case including breach of duty and causation.

Negligence

The plaintiff must convince jurors, when bringing a claim for medical malpractice in court, that it is more than likely that the doctor violated his or her responsibilities as a physician and that those violations caused injury. The lawyer representing the plaintiff must demonstrate this with evidence gathered through pretrial discovery, which involves seeking disclosure of documents, which includes monee medical malpractice law firm records from all parties involved in the lawsuit. This process also includes sworn statements that are recorded and used at trial.

A doctor has violated their professional duty in the event that they did something a reasonable and prudent doctor would not have done under similar circumstances. However, it must be proven that the breach directly caused injury to the patient. This is called causation or causal proximate causes. For example when a patient is taken to the hospital for a procedure to treat a hernia and ends up having his or her gall bladder removed instead. This is hamilton medical malpractice attorney negligence as the removal did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be brought within a legally prescribed period of time, also known as the statute of limitations that varies from state to state. The injured patient must establish that the substandard care caused injury and then prove how much monetary compensation they are entitled to.

Damages

If a medical error has caused you to sustain an injury, you deserve to be compensated. At Scaffidi & Associates, we will assist you in receiving the full and fair compensation for your losses.

The first step is filing and serving the complaint and summons to all named defendants in the lawsuit. The parties participate in discovery. It is a process which involves the disclosure of documents and statements disclosed under an oath. During discovery medical records and doctor's notes are typically requested.

In most states, to receive compensation for injuries sustained through malpractice, you need to prove four things such as a duty of care due to the healthcare provider, a breach of this duty; a causal link between the breach and injury and damages resulting from the injury. If your lawyer can prove all of these elements, you will have an argument for financial recovery in a medical malpractice case.

In certain cases, a court may decide to award punitive damages. These are intended to penalize the perpetrator and discourage others from engaging in similar misconduct. However, this isn't the norm in medical malpractice cases as courts require clear evidence of malice to make these extraordinary awards.