How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who finds a foreign object such as surgical clamps within her body following gall bladder surgery can bring a lawsuit against a doctor for medical negligence. A successful lawsuit must establish the elements of medical malpractice: duty, deviation from this duty and direct reason.

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

Causes of Injury

A penns grove medical malpractice lawsuit negligence case may be filed by the person who has been injured or a person who is legally authorized to represent them. It could be the spouse, adult child, parent, guardian or administrator of a deceased patient's estate, depending on the circumstances. The plaintiff in a medical malpractice lawsuit is the health care provider. This could be a licensed nurse, doctor or therapist.

Expert testimony is typically required in malpractice cases. Medical experts are required to testify as to whether the healthcare provider acted within the standard of care in their special area of expertise. They also have to testify to the harm caused by the doctor's actions or inactions.

Accidents caused by negligence or negligence can be very serious. For instance, a wrong diagnosis of a health problem could have life-threatening consequences. Other kinds of injuries include operating on the wrong body part or putting instruments inside the patient during surgery.

To prove a malpractice claim the patient must prove four legal elements: a duty the physician owed to them; a breach of this duty; a subsequent injury; and damages. In certain states, like New York the law limits the amount of money awarded in a malpractice case.

Causation

The injury element is known as the causation. It is one of the most important elements in a medical malpractice claim. To prove causation, a plaintiff must demonstrate that they sustained the injury based on a balance of probabilities as a result of the physician's negligence. This can be a difficult task due to a variety reasons.

For instance, many injuries that are the subject of a medical malpractice lawsuit stem from long-term or ongoing ailments that were present prior to the time of treatment. The time-limit for a medical malpractice case could be extended over several years, and injuries can develop slowly.

In these situations, it is difficult to prove that a particular medical professional's failure to adhere to the standard of care caused the injury. The attorney could have collected evidence, such as oak harbor medical malpractice lawsuit records and expert testimony which the injured patient can use.

During the process of discovery which is an element of the legal process for the preparation of a trial your lawyer can request the lawyers for the defendants be made aware of expert testimony and other documents. The doctor who is representing the case will be required to give a deposition. This is a statement that is made under an oath. Your lawyer can challenge the doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will then decide whether the plaintiff has proved the necessary elements of their claim, which includes duty, breach, causation and injury.

Negligence

If a medical malpractice lawsuit is filed, the plaintiff will have to convince the jury that it was more likely than not that the physician violated professional duties and that those breached duties caused injuries. The plaintiff's attorney has to demonstrate this through evidence collected during discovery. This includes the request of documents, including medical records and other records from all parties in the lawsuit. This also includes the recording of sworn statements and used at trial.

A doctor has violated their professional obligation by doing something that a reasonable prudent physician would not have done in the same circumstances. It must be proved that the breach resulted in injury directly to the patient. This is referred to as causation or proximate causes. For instance an individual goes to the hospital for a hernia operation and is later told that he or his gall bladder removed instead. This is medical malpractice as the removal of the gall bladder was not beneficial to the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a legally prescribed time frame, known as the statute of limitations, which is different for each state. The person who suffered the injury must prove that the negligent treatment caused injury, and then they must prove what monetary compensation they are entitled to.

Damages

If medical negligence has caused you to suffer a traumatic injury, you deserve to be made whole. At Scaffidi & Associates, we can help you receive the full and fair compensation for your loss.

The first step in a lawsuit is to make a complaint and serve it along with summons and other papers on all defendants. The parties then engage in discovery. This is a process where documents and statements are presented under the oath. Medical records and the notes of a doctor are typically requested during discovery.

In the majority of states, to get compensation for injuries caused by malpractice, you need to establish four elements: a duty of care that the healthcare provider is obligated to perform, a breach of this obligation; a causal connection between the breach and injury and Vimeo damages caused by the injury. If your lawyer can prove all of these elements, you have an argument for financial recovery in a medical malpractice case.

In some instances, a court may decide to award punitive damages. These are intended to penalize the offender and deter others from engaging in similar misconduct. However, this isn't the norm in medical malpractice cases since courts require evident proof of malice in order to give these extraordinary awards.