What Is a Medical Malpractice Claim?

A medical malpractice claim is brought by patients who complain about the negligence of a healthcare worker. The patient, or or estate in the instance of a deceased patient, must demonstrate that the negligence was responsible for injury or harm.

Legal actions claiming medical malpractice are typically filed in state trial courts. In order to win a lawsuit the party seeking to be harmed must demonstrate four legal elements:

Duty of care

In any legal case the plaintiff must demonstrate that an individual or entity owed them a duty of care and then did not fulfill that obligation. In medical malpractice cases, it is the obligation of a doctor to provide the proper standard of care to their patients. Expert testimony is usually used to establish this.

Expert witnesses help to determine the correct medical standards, and then demonstrate how a doctor deviated from the guidelines in their treatment of the patient. A plaintiff's attorney who is suing for medical malpractice must then show that the deviance caused the victim's injuries.

Using expert testimony is essential because jurors generally are not aware of anatomy, and they watch numerous medical dramas. This is especially relevant in medical malpractice cases since it is often difficult to establish a minimum standard of care. In medical malpractice cases, the standard of care is referred to the degree of skill in the treatment, its quality and the degree of diligence shown by other doctors in comparable specialties in similar circumstances.

Experts in medical malpractice cases are typically surgeons or physicians with similar training and accreditation. Due to the "conspiracy of silence" among many doctors (a term lawyers employ to describe the tendency of doctors not to testify against one another), it is often difficult to find a qualified expert willing to be a witness against a colleague for the care that is not up to par.

Breach of duty

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor is negligent and hurts the patient. These mistakes can cause new injuries or make existing ones worse. Medical malpractice claims can be complicated issues and laws, making them difficult to prove. However, a skilled medical malpractice lawyer will analyze the facts of your case to determine whether a doctor breached his or her duty to the patient.

Your attorney will establish a doctor-patient relationship existed between you and your physician, which is required in any malpractice claim. Your attorney will review the decisions and actions of your physician to determine if the standard of care in your state for doctors who have similar backgrounds, training, and geographic location is fulfilled.

Physicians owe a duty to their patients to observe these standards, without deviation or omission. A breach of duty implies that the doctor failed to meet your expectations and resulted in injury to you.

Proving the breach of duty is generally straightforward with the aid of the research of your attorney and expert witnesses. Experts can testify the doctor's actions were not in accordance with the standard of medical care and also explain why another medical professional would have acted differently in similar circumstances. Your lawyer must also link the breach of duty to your injuries and damages. Your lawyer will look over your medical records, prescription and test results, imaging scans, and prescriptions to create an argument that proves the breach of duty by your physician directly caused your injuries.

Causation

The majority of treatments carry a level of risk, but medical errors can increase those risks. To prove the causation of a malpractice claim an injured patient must prove a direct connection between the negligence alleged and the injury. In many instances, expert testimony is required, along with assistance of a medical malpractice attorney.

Medical errors could include, for example, misdiagnosing serious ailments or illnesses. If a doctor fails to recognize cancer or any other illness, can have serious consequences for patients. In this situation, the patient could suffer excessive pain or even end up dying. In failing to recognize the condition properly the doctor could have committed malpractice.

Proving that a medical professional or hospital did not treat you properly can be difficult and time-consuming. The evidence needed may include various sources, including medical reports and test results, as along with expert witness testimony and oral depositions. Your lawyer can help you in obtaining and interpreting the evidence as well as representing you in the process of depositions.

It is vital to understand that only healthcare professionals can be sued for malpractice. Doctors and nurses, in contrast to receptionists in medical centers, are expected to adhere to current standards of medical care. ferndale medical malpractice attorney professionals must be able of predicting the outcome based on their education and experience.

Damages

In medical malpractice claims, courts hear about monetary damages that are designed to compensate the patient who was injured. These damages could include past and future medical bills and lost wages, as well as disfigurement, pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life. Punitive damages may be awarded in some cases. These are awarded only to those who commit crimes that society wishes to deter.

A medical malpractice case begins by filing in the court of an administrative summons. Then, the parties will engage in discovery, a procedure where the plaintiffs and defendants disclose statements under an oath. This could involve requesting documents like Atlanta medical malpractice attorney records taking depositions of those involved in a lawsuit and interviewing witnesses.

In a medical malpractice claim it is vital to prove that the physician was legally obligated to provide treatment and medical care to the patient. The second element is that the doctor violated that obligation by failing to follow the medical standard of practice. The third factor is whether the breach caused injury to the patient.

It is vital to be aware that the statutes of limitations (the legally-imposed timeframe within which an action for medical malpractice has to be filed) differ from state state. In New York, there is a statute of limitations of two years and six month (30 months) after the date of the medical malpractice.