How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who finds an object foreign to her body, such as surgical clamps within her body after gall bladder surgery may sue for medical negligence. A successful lawsuit must establish the elements of medical negligence: 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 referred to as the proximate cause.

Cause of Injury

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed by the person who suffered the injury or an attorney. Based on the specific circumstances, this may be the spouse of the patient or an adult child parent, guardian ad litem, or the executor or administrator of the estate of the deceased patient. The plaintiff in a suit for medical negligence is the health care provider. This could be a nurse, doctor or therapist, or any other licensed health professional.

Malpractice cases usually require an abundance of expert testimony. hope mills medical malpractice lawsuit experts must determine if the health care provider acted within the standard of care in their specific field of expertise. They also need to testify on the injury that was caused by the doctor's actions or actions or.

Injuries resulting from malpractice and negligence can be very severe. A mistake in diagnosis can have devastating consequences, such as a life-threatening condition. Other kinds of injuries include operating on the wrong body part or leaving surgical instruments inside the patient.

The patient must establish four legal elements of a malpractice lawsuit: a duty owed to the patient by the physician or a breach of the duty; an injury caused by the breach and resulting damages. In certain states, like New York, the law places a limit on the amount of money that can be awarded in an injury resulting from a malpractice claim.

Causation

The injury element, also referred to as causation is one of the most important aspects of medical malpractice cases. To prove causation the plaintiff must show that they sustained the injury based on a balance of probabilities as a result of the negligence of the doctor. This is a difficult task for a number of reasons.

For example, many injuries that are the subject of a medical-malpractice lawsuit arise from long-term or ongoing conditions that were in the process of being treated prior to. The time limit for a medical malpractice case can be extended over several years and injuries can develop slowly.

In these instances it is necessary to prove that a medical professional's violation of the standard of care that led to the injury can be difficult. The attorney may have collected evidence, like medical records and expert testimony, that the injured patient can use.

During the process of discovery, which is a part of the legal procedure for prepping for a trial your attorney can request that the lawyers of the defendants provide expert testimony and other documents. The doctor who is defending the case will be required to give deposition. This is a testimony that is given under an oath. Your lawyer will be able to cross-examine doctor and challenge their findings. The jury will decide whether the plaintiff has established that the allegations of the case are true including breach of duty and causation.

Negligence

The plaintiff must convince the jury, when bringing a lawsuit for nitro Medical malpractice Attorney malpractice, that it is more than likely that the doctor acted in violation of his or her duties as a physician and that those breaches resulted in injury. The lawyer representing the plaintiff must show this through evidence gathered through pretrial discovery, which involves seeking disclosure of documents, which includes medical records from all parties involved in the lawsuit. Depositions, wherein statements are made under oath and recorded to be used at trial, are also part of this process.

A doctor violated his or her professional duty when he or she did something that a reasonably prudent physician would not do in similar circumstances. However it must be proved that the breach directly caused the injury to the patient. This is known as causation or proximate causes. Patients may visit a hospital to repair a hernia but end up having their gall bladder removed. This is medical malpractice as the removal of the gall bladder did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a specific legal period, referred to as the statute of limitations. This differs from state-to-state. The patient who is injured must prove that the substandard care caused injury and then he or she must demonstrate the amount of compensation they are entitled to.

Damages

If medical negligence has caused you to suffer an injury, you deserve to be compensated. At Scaffidi & Associates, we will assist you in receiving full and fair compensation for your losses.

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 where documents and evidence are presented under oath. Medical records and the notes of the doctor are usually requested during discovery.

In most states, you need to prove four things to be compensated for the injuries caused by williamsville medical malpractice lawyer malpractice that is a duty owed by the healthcare provider; a breach of that duty; a causal connection between the breach and the patient's injury as well as damages that result from the injury. If your lawyer can prove all of these elements in a medical negligence claim, you will have an impressive case.

In certain instances the court could give punitive damages, which is meant to punish a wrongdoer, and deter others from engaging in similar acts. This is rare however, especially in medical malpractice cases. The courts must have very clear evidence of intent to commit a crime before they are able to decide to award these extraordinary damages.