How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who finds an object foreign to the body such as surgical clamps in her body after gall bladder surgery can sue for medical negligence. A successful lawsuit must prove the legal aspects of medical negligence: duty, deviation from this obligation, direct cause and injury.

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

Cause of Injury

A medical malpractice law firms malpractice case can be filed by the injured person or by a person legally appointed to act on their behalf. It could be the spouse, adult child or parent, guardian or administrator of the estate of a deceased patient, based on the circumstances. The plaintiff in a medical malpractice suit is the health professional. It could be a licensed doctor, nurse or therapist.

Expert testimony is usually required in malpractice cases. Medical experts must testify as to whether or whether the health professional adhered to the standards of care in their specific field. They must also testify as to the harm caused by the doctor’s actions or inactions.

Injuries that result from malpractice or negligence can be extremely serious. A mistake in diagnosis can have devastating consequences, including life-threatening conditions. Other kinds of injuries include performing surgery on the wrong body part or leaving instruments inside the patient during surgery.

In order to prove a malpractice case the patient must demonstrate four legal elements: a duty the physician owed to them; a breach in this duty, resulting injury; and damages. In some states, such as New York, the law restricts the amount that can be awarded in a malpractice claim.

Causation

The injury element, also known as causation, is one the most important elements in a medical malpractice case. To establish causation, the plaintiff must demonstrate that they sustained their injury on a balance of probabilities because of the negligence of a physician. This can be a difficult job due to various reasons.

For example, many injuries that are the subject of a medical malpractice lawsuit stem from long-term or ongoing conditions that were already present prior to the time of treatment. The time period for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit can be extended over several years, and injuries can develop slowly.

In these cases it can be difficult to prove that a specific medical professional's breach of the standards of care caused the injury. However, the patient who was hurt may be able to use evidence gathered by the attorney, including medical documents and expert testimony.

During the discovery process, which is a component of the legal procedure preparing for trial, your lawyer will ask for the disclosure of expert testimony and other documents from the lawyers representing the defendants. The doctor who is defending the case will be required to appear in a deposition. This is a testimony that's given under oath. Your lawyer can challenge doctor's findings and cross-examine them. The jury will then decide if the plaintiff has proven the essential elements of their case including breach of duty, causation, breach of duty and injury.

Negligence

The plaintiff must convince jurors, when filing a claim for medical malpractice to show that it is more likely that the doctor acted in violation of the obligations of physician and that the mistakes led to injuries. The plaintiff's lawyer must prove this by using evidence gathered during pretrial discovery. This includes seeking documents, such as medical records as well as other documents from all parties in the lawsuit. Depositions, in which the statements are made under oath, and recorded for use in trial, are also part of this procedure.

A doctor was in breach of his or her professional duty when he/she did something that a reasonable prudent physician would not do under the same circumstances. It must be proved that the breach caused the injury directly to the patient. This is known as causation or proximate cause. For instance an individual goes to the hospital for a hernia operation and is later told that he or the gall bladder removed instead. This is medical negligence because the procedure did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice suits must be filed within a legal timeframe, also known as the statute of limitations. This is different from state to state. The person who suffered the injury must demonstrate that the treatment was substandard and caused injury, and then they must prove what monetary compensation they're entitled to.

Damages

If medical negligence has led you to suffer injury, you are entitled to be made whole. At Scaffidi & Associates, we can assist you in obtaining an adequate and fair amount of compensation for your loss.

The first step is filing and serving an order and complaint on all named defendants in the lawsuit. The parties are involved in discovery. This is a process where documents and evidence are revealed under an oath. During discovery medical records and doctor's notes are usually requested.

In most states, to be eligible for compensation for injuries incurred by negligence, you must to establish four elements that include a duty of care that the healthcare provider is obligated to perform and a breach of that obligation; a causal connection between the breach and injury and damages caused by the injury. If your attorney can prove all these elements in a medical negligence claim, you will have a convincing case.

In certain instances, courts can award punitive damages, which are intended to punish the wrongdoer and deter others from engaging in the same conduct. However, this is rare in medical malpractice cases, since courts require clear evidence of malice to make these extraordinary awards.