How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who discovers an object foreign to the body, such as surgical clamps, remains in her body after gall bladder surgery could file a sanger medical malpractice law firm malpractice lawsuit. A successful claim must establish the legal elements of medical negligence: duty, deviation from this duty, direct causes, and injury.

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

Causes of Injury

A claim for medical malpractice can be filed by the victim or an attorney. Based on the specific circumstances, it could be the spouse of the patient or an adult child, parent, a guardian ad litem or the administrator or executor of the estate of the deceased patient. The plaintiff in a medical malpractice suit is the health care provider. It could be a licensed nurse, doctor or therapist.

Expert testimony is often required in malpractice cases. Medical experts are required to testify as to whether the health care provider was acting in accordance with the standards of care in his or her special area of expertise. They also have to testify to the damage caused by the actions or inactions of a doctor.

The consequences of malpractice and negligence can be very severe. For example, a mistake in the diagnosis of a health problem could result in life-threatening consequences. Other kinds of injuries include performing surgery on the wrong body part or putting instruments inside the patient during surgery.

In order to prove a malpractice case the patient must demonstrate four legal elements: a duty the doctor owed to them; a breach in this duty, resulting injury and damages. In some states such as New York the law limits the amount of money awarded in a malpractice case.

Causation

The injury element, also known as causation, is one the most crucial elements in a medical malpractice case. To establish causation, the plaintiff must demonstrate that their injury was the result of the doctor's negligence. This is a difficult task for a number of reasons.

For instance, a lot of injuries that are the basis of a medical malpractice lawsuit are the result of long-term or ongoing illnesses that were present before treatment began. The time period for filing medical malpractice cases can be extended over a period of time and injuries may develop slowly.

In these cases it is often difficult to prove that a particular medical professional's failure to adhere to the standards of care caused the injury. However, the patient who was hurt could be able to make use of the evidence collected by the attorney, including medical records and expert testimony.

During the discovery process, which is an integral part of the legal procedure for prepping for trial, your lawyer could seek disclosure of expert testimony and other evidence from lawyers representing the defendants. The doctor who is representing the case will be asked to appear in a deposition. This is a testimonies that is given under oath. Your lawyer is able to cross-examine doctor and contest their conclusions. The jury will decide whether the plaintiff has substantiated the facts of the case, including duty, breach and causation.

Negligence

If a medical malpractice lawsuit is filed in court, the plaintiff must to convince the jury that it was more likely than not that the doctor breached his or her professional duties and that those breached duties caused injury. The plaintiff's lawyer must demonstrate this by presenting evidence through pretrial discovery, which entails asking for disclosure of documents such as medical records from all parties involved in the lawsuit. Depositions, in which statements are made under oath and recorded to be used at trial, are also part of this process.

A doctor has breached their professional obligation if they did something a reasonable prudent physician would not have done under similar circumstances. However it must be established that the breach directly caused the injury to the patient. This is called causation or causal proximate causes. A patient may visit a hospital to have a hernia fixed, and instead, have their gall bladder removed. This is medical negligence as the removal was not beneficial for the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a legal time frame, also known as the statute of limitations. This varies from state to state. The patient who is injured must prove that the substandard care resulted in injury, and then he or she must prove how much monetary compensation he or her deserves.

Damages

If medical negligence has led you to suffer injury, you are entitled to be compensated. Scaffidi & Associates can help you receive a fair and complete compensation for your losses.

The first step is to file and serve an order and complaint on all defendants named in the lawsuit. The parties then engage in discovery. This is a procedure where documents and statements are revealed under an oath. elizabeth medical malpractice law firm records and the notes of a doctor are typically requested during discovery.

In most states, to receive compensation for injuries caused by malpractice, you need to prove four things: a duty of care due to the healthcare provider, 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 in a medical negligence claim, you will have an impressive case.

In some cases the court can decide to award punitive damages. These are designed to punish the perpetrator and discourage others from engaging in the same conduct. However, this isn't the norm in medical malpractice cases because the courts require specific proof of malice to award these awe-inspiring awards.