How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A patient who believes he or she suffered a loss because of an error made by a medical professional can file a medical malpractice lawsuit. These cases are different from typical personal injury claims in that they use a professional standard of care to determine the degree of negligence.

In the United States, malpractice claims are resolved through state trial courts. Each state has its own laws and procedures.

Duty of care

A doctor, surgeon or nurse, or any other health care professional, is obligated to their patients a duty of caring. This legal principle basically states that any health professional treating you has an obligation to observe the accepted medical practices, without omission or deviation.

The medical standard of care is the legal yardstick against which all medical malpractice claims are measured. It is vital for a successful case because it lays out the specific procedure for the injured party and his or her attorney to establish negligence by showing that a health care professional failed to adhere to the standard of care.

The proof of this standard of treatment often requires the help of a medical expert witness. Experts like these are crucial to determine the relevant medical standard of care and how that standard was breached by the defendants in a medical negligence case.

It is also important to prove that this breach of duty directly led to your injury, illness, or death. In medical malpractice lawsuits damages could include hospital bills and lost income, future earning capacity, suffering, pain and even punitive damages. Your lawyer must establish the amount of these damages, which could be more than your original medical expenses. This is a little easier in certain instances than in other. In certain cases this is more simple than in others.

Breach of duty

A physician has the duty of acting in accordance with medical standards of care when providing treatments or providing services. If a physician fails to fulfill that duty and the injury results, an injured patient can file a malpractice lawsuit.

Medical negligence can involve various actions, including mistakes in diagnosis, dosage of medications and health management, treatment and aftercare. A lawsuit is considered valid if the plaintiff can demonstrate four legal elements. These include:

First, there must be an established doctor-patient relationship. The physician has an obligation to inform the patient about any risks or issues that may arise from the procedure. Failure to do so may render the physician liable for negligence, even if a procedure was carried out flawlessly. If the doctor failed to inform the patient that a specific procedure could have an average of 30% risk of causing limb loss, then the patient would not have gotten consent.

The second aspect to be proved is an infraction to the standard of care. To prove this, the lawyer needs to have expert witness testimony to establish that the physician violated the standard of care. In addition, it must be proven that this breach caused injury to the patient.

The court system can be slow in settling medical negligence cases. This is because it requires a lot of time from the doctor and attorney, along with extensive research and interviews with experts and a thorough review of medical and legal literature. A physician who faces an action for malpractice will have to pay high court fees as well as attorney fees and work products, as well as expenses for expert testimony.

Causation

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are people and they make mistakes. When these mistakes reach the level of malpractice, patients can suffer life-threatening and fatal injuries. The proof that a health care provider acted in breach of his or duty and caused injury requires medical and legal knowledge. A successful case must demonstrate four legal elements: a physician-patient relationship; a doctor's professional duty to the patient; the doctor's breach of that obligation; and any injury that results from the breach.

The injury needs to be proven to have been caused by the doctor's deviation from the standard of medical care. This is a more stringent legal standard than "beyond reasonable doubt" in criminal cases. The lawyer representing the plaintiff has to convince the jury/factfinder that it is more likely than not that the physician's actions were negligent and that negligence was a cause of the injury.

Medical experts are often needed at the beginning of the process to help determine all of these factors. According to Rhode Island law only doctors with the right education, training and experience in the field of claimed malpractice can provide expert testimony. This is why selecting a competent medical expert is an essential element of the case of a malpractice.

Damages

A medical negligence lawsuit seeks to collect damages, which comprise the future and past expenses related to an injury. These expenses can include hospital bills, doctor's appointments, pain and discomfort, and lost wages. The jury will decide the amount of damages that will be awarded in accordance with the evidence presented.

During the trial the lawyer or Medical malpractice plaintiff must prove four main legal elements: (1) a physician was obligated to perform a professional obligation; (2) the doctor violated that duty by acting negligently; (3) the doctor's negligence caused injury and (4) the injury resulted in measurable damages. A doctor's performance is not a breach of professional standards if you're dissatisfied with it. However there must be a repercussion. An expert witness can help to determine if a physician has violated the standards of care.

The legal process for a malpractice case can last for a long time, with a lot of time spent in "discovery," which involves the exchange of documents and statements made under oath by the parties involved in the case. Although many cases are settled prior to reaching the courtroom, a minority of these cases go all through to a jury trial and verdict.

To reduce costs of litigation, certain states have taken a variety of administrative and legislative actions that are collectively known as tort reform measures to reduce liability for negligence. Some states have also implemented alternative dispute resolution strategies like binding arbitration. These alternatives to civil litigation are designed to decrease litigation costs, expedite the process of settling malpractice claims, eliminate overly generous juries, and filter out claims that are frivolous.