10 Tips For Getting The Most Value From Medical Malpractice Litigation

Four Elements of a medical malpractice lawyer Malpractice Case

Physicians are worried about malpractice lawsuits because they pose an actual threat. They can raise insurance costs for doctors as well as alter the practice of medicine.

In general doctors owe their patients the duty to uphold accepted medical practices without deviation or infraction. This is referred to as the standard of care.

To successfully sue a doctor for negligence, the patient must demonstrate each of the following legal elements by the preponderance evidence: breach of obligation; causation; damages.

Duty of Care

The primary element of a medical malpractice case is that the injured party was bound by a duty of the doctor that was breached. Medical malpractice cases differ from other negligence cases because they typically involve a doctor-patient relationship, lawyers which is established through documents from a doctor or phone consultations. In general, physicians who treat their patients must adhere to accepted standards in their profession and practice.

Doctors can be held accountable for the incompetence or negligence of their staff, like assistants or interns. They may also be held accountable for the actions of emergency personnel under their supervision.

The plaintiff then has to demonstrate that the defendant's actions did not conform to the standard of care in the circumstances. This element can only be proven by expert testimony on acceptable medical practices and the defendant's failure adhere to these standards. The other element is that the breach directly injured the patient. To prove this your lawyer must demonstrate the direct causality and impact between the defendant's omission of duty and your injury or your loved one's wrongful death. This is referred to as proximate cause. For instance, if the negligent treatment alleged to have caused the injury would not have had an adverse impact on your health, regardless whether it was executed or not, you wouldn't be able to claim damages for any injuries or wrongful deaths that were allegedly caused by the doctor's actions.

Breach of Duty

A doctor who fails fulfill their obligation of professional care to a patient can be held accountable for negligence. In order to succeed in a medical negligence claim, the patient must prove four legal aspects which include: a duty to provide professional care was owed and the doctor violated this duty; the breach caused injury; and the injury was a cause of damages. The standard of care is the primary aspect in a medical wrongful conduct case, and it's determined by expert testimony. The standard of care is defined as what an "reasonably prudent" doctor would perform in the same or similar circumstances.

The physician's breach of this duty occurs when he or she violates the standard of care while giving treatment to the patient. If a doctor breaks the arm of a patient they may not be able to cast it correctly. The doctor's infraction of this obligation causes the broken part to heal improperly, resulting in the complete or partial loss of use and subsequent monetary damages.

Medical malpractice cases are brought in state trial courts, but under limited circumstances federal courts are also able to hear these claims. Each of the 94 federal district courts in the United States has a judge-jury panel that will hear medical malpractice cases. Most states have a system of special state courts that deal with the cases, although they have different rules of procedure than federal district courts.

Causation

Physicians swear to do no harm, and should they violate the oath and cause injury, a patient may be entitled to compensation for any damages. A medical malpractice claim may also arise when a doctor performs a treatment with known risks, and the patient wouldn't have consented to the procedure had they been fully informed.

In a lawsuit for medical malpractice the plaintiff must prove that the doctor did not act in accordance to accepted standards of practice. The failure to follow the standard of care was the sole cause of any injury or illness suffered by the patient, and the ailment would never be the case if it wasn't due to the negligence of the doctor. This burden of proof, known as "preponderance" of evidence, is less arduous than "beyond reasonable doubt" which is needed to convict criminal defendants.

Medical malpractice lawsuits typically require expert witness testimony and lengthy discovery procedures prior to trial. If the case settles or goes to trial, the lawyers on both sides have to spend an enormous amount of time and effort preparing for the matter. This is why malpractice claims can be so expensive for both the plaintiff and physician involved. It is one of the primary reasons why physicians and health care organizations support efforts to change tort laws in the United States.

Damages

Victims may be awarded compensatory or punitive damages, based on the nature of medical negligence. Compensatory damages compensate patients for financial losses and costs caused by the physician's negligence which includes loss of income or cost of future medical care. Non-economic damages include the payment of physical and mental stress.

Medical malpractice claims are filed in state trial courts. However, there are some instances in which a lawsuit may be filed in federal court. This is typically the situation where a doctor is employed by a federally funded facility like the Veteran's Administration, or if the doctor is from another country and is practicing in the United States under a treaty of extraterritorial jurisdiction.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are adversarial and require extensive legal discovery. This includes depositions, written interrogatories and requests for the production of documents. The victims of medical negligence could also have to endure a jury trial and are at risk of their claim being rejected by a judge or dismissed by a juror.

You must prove that medical negligence, or error caused your injury in order to be awarded a case for medical negligence. The injury must be serious enough to warrant a financial settlement that will cover your financial losses and emotional distress. New York medical malpractice law also has damage caps, and other limits on the amount patients can be awarded if they successfully make claims.