How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

A patient who discovers that an object foreign to her, such as surgical clamps, remains inside her body after gall bladder surgery may be able to file a lawsuit for shenandoah Medical malpractice lawsuit malpractice. A successful lawsuit must prove the legal elements of medical negligence: duty, deviance from this duty, direct cause, and injury.

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

Causes of Injury

A medical malpractice claim may be filed by the victim or a legal representative. This can be the spouse, adult child or parent, guardian or administrator of the estate of a deceased person depending on the specific circumstances. The defendant in a medical malpractice lawsuit is the health professional. This could be a licensed nurse, doctor or therapist.

Expert testimony is often required in cases of malpractice. Medical experts are required to be able to testify that the healthcare provider was acting in accordance with the standards of medical care within their special area of expertise. They also need to testify on injuries caused by doctor's actions or inactions.

The consequences of negligence and mistakes can be catastrophic. For instance, a wrong diagnosis of a medical condition could result in life-threatening consequences. Other types of injuries could include operating on the wrong body part or putting instruments inside the patient during surgery.

The patient must establish four legal elements in a malpractice case: a duty owed to the patient by the physician and a breach of that duty; an injury caused by the breach and the consequential damages. In certain states, like New York the law limits the amount of money that can be awarded for a malpractice case.

Causation

The injury element, also known as causation, is one of the most important elements in medical malpractice cases. To establish causation, the plaintiff must show that they sustained the injury on the basis of probabilities as a result due to the negligence of the doctor. This can be a challenging task due to a variety of reasons.

For instance, many of the injuries that are the cause of a medical negligence lawsuit arise from long-term or ongoing ailments that were in the process of being treated prior to. The statute of limitations on a medical malpractice case can be extended for a number of years and injuries can develop slowly.

In these cases, proving that a medical professional's violation of the standard of care which led to the injury can be difficult. The attorney may have gathered evidence, like medical records and expert testimony, that the injured patient may use.

During the discovery process, which is part of the legal process for prepping for trial, your lawyer can request the disclosure of expert testimony and other evidence from defendants' attorneys. The doctor who is defending the case will be required to testify in a deposition. This is a statement that's given under an oath. Your lawyer will be able to cross-examine doctor and challenge the doctor's findings. The jury will decide then if the plaintiff has established the necessary elements of their case including obligation, breach, causation and injury.

Negligence

The plaintiff must convince the jury when bringing a lawsuit for georgetown medical malpractice lawyer malpractice, that it is more likely that the doctor violated his or her obligations as a physician and that those breaches resulted in injury. The plaintiff's attorney has to prove this by using evidence obtained during discovery. This includes requesting documents, including highland park medical malpractice law firm records as well as other documents from all parties in the lawsuit. Depositions, in which statements are made under oath and recorded for use in trial, are also a part of this procedure.

A doctor has breached their professional duty by doing something that an ordinary prudent doctor would not have done in similar circumstances. It must be proven that the breach caused the injury directly to the patient. This is referred to as causation or proximate causes. For instance the patient is admitted to the hospital for a hernia operation and then has his or his gall bladder removed instead. This is medical malpractice because the removal of the gall bladder did not benefit the patient.

Medical malpractice lawsuits must be filed within a certain time limit, known as the statute of limitations. This differs from state-to-state. The victim must prove that the negligent treatment caused injury, and they have to prove the amount of compensation they deserve.

Damages

You deserve to be compensated for any injuries that you've suffered as a result of medical negligence. Scaffidi & Associates can help you receive full and fair compensation for your losses.

The first step is to file and serve an order and complaint on all defendants named in the lawsuit. The parties then begin discovery, a process in which documents and statements are revealed under the oath. Medical records and the notes of the doctor are usually requested during discovery.

In most states, to be eligible for compensation for injuries incurred by negligence, you must to prove four things: a duty of care owed by the healthcare provider, a breach of this obligation; a causal connection between the breach and injury and damages resultant from the injury. If your attorney can establish all of these elements, you will have an argument for financial compensation in a medical negligence claim.

In some cases, a court may decide to award punitive damages. These are intended to penalize the wrongdoer and deter others from engaging in similar conduct. 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.