Medical Malpractice Settlement Strategies That Will Change Your Life

How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who discovers that a foreign object like surgical clamps, remains inside her body following gall bladder surgery may bring a medical malpractice lawsuit. A successful claim must demonstrate the elements of medical malpractice: duty, deviance from this duty and the direct reason.

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

Causes of Injury

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed by the person who has been injured or a legal person to act on their behalf. It could be the spouse, adult child, parent, guardian or administrator of an estate belonging to a deceased patient depending on the circumstances. The defendant in a suit for medical negligence is the health care provider. This could be a doctor, nurse, therapist or any other licensed health professional.

Malpractice cases usually involve many expert witnesses. Medical experts must testify as to whether or whether the healthcare provider adhered to the standards of care for their particular field. They must also testify about the injury that was caused by the doctor's actions or inactions.

Injuries that result from malpractice or negligence can be extremely serious. For example, a mistake in the diagnosis of a health problem could have life-threatening effects. Other types of injuries could include performing surgery on the wrong body part or putting instruments inside the patient during surgery.

The patient must prove four legal elements in a malpractice case that include a duty owed to the patient by the physician and a breach of that duty; injury caused by the breach and resulting damages. In some states such as New York the law limits the amount of money awarded for a malpractice claim.

Causation

The injury element, also known as causation, is one of the most important elements of medical malpractice cases. To prove causation, the plaintiff must show that they suffered an injury on the balance of probabilities as a result of the negligence of a physician. This is a challenging task due to a variety of reasons.

For instance, many injuries that are the cause of a medical negligence lawsuit arise from long-term or ongoing conditions that were already present before treatment began. The time period for filing a medical malpractice case can be extended over the course of several years and injuries can develop slowly.

In these instances it is necessary to prove that a medical malpractice law firm professional's breach of the standard of care led to the injury can be difficult. The attorney could have gathered evidence, such as medical records and expert testimony that the injured person can utilize.

In the discovery process, which is a part of the legal procedure for prepping for medical malpractice a trial your lawyer may request that 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 take deposition. This is a testimonies that's given under the oath. Your lawyer may cross-examine the doctor and challenge their findings. The jury will decide whether the plaintiff has substantiated the elements of the case, including duty, breach and causation.

Negligence

The plaintiff must convince jurors, when filing a claim for medical malpractice to show that it is likely that the doctor violated his or her responsibilities as a doctor and that these mistakes led to injuries. The plaintiff's lawyer must demonstrate this with evidence gathered through pre-trial discovery, which involves asking for disclosure of documents such as medical records from all parties who are involved in the lawsuit. This process also involves sworn declarations that are recorded and used in trial.

A doctor has breached their professional obligation if they did something reasonable and prudent doctors would not have done in similar circumstances. However it must be proven that the breach directly caused injury to the patient. This is referred to as causation or proximate cause. A patient may go to the hospital to repair a hernia but end up having their gall bladder removed. This is medical negligence because the procedure was not beneficial to the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be brought within a legally regulated period of time, called the statute of limitations which varies by state. The injured patient has to demonstrate that the treatment was substandard and caused injury, and then they have to prove the amount of compensation they're entitled to.

Damages

You are entitled to compensation for any injuries that you've suffered as a result of medical negligence. At Scaffidi & Associates, we will assist you in receiving an adequate and fair amount of compensation for your losses.

The first step is to file and serve a complaint and summons on all defendants named in the lawsuit. The parties then proceed to discovery, a procedure in which documents and statements are made public under an oath. During discovery medical records and notes from a doctor will typically be sought.

In most states, in order to receive compensation for injuries caused by negligence, you must to prove four things: a duty of care due to the healthcare provider, a breach of this duty; a causal link between the breach and injury and damages that result from the injury. If your lawyer can demonstrate all of these elements in a medical malpractice claim, you will have an impressive case.

In certain instances the court could make punitive damages a possibility that is intended to punish the perpetrator and discourage others from committing similar acts. However, this is rare in medical malpractice cases, as the courts require extremely clear evidence of malice to award these extraordinary awards.