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How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A patient who believes that they suffered losses due to a mistake made by a health care provider can bring a lawsuit against a medical malpractice. These cases differ from personal injury claims because they use a specialized standard 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 surgeon, doctor, nurse or other health care professional is required to provide care to their patients. This legal concept states that any health professional who cares for you has a duty to follow accepted medical practices.

This medical standard of care is a legal metric to which any medical malpractice claim will be judged. It is essential to a successful claim, since it allows the injured person as well as their attorney to show negligence by proving the health professional did not meet the standard of the treatment.

Proving that this standard of care is met often requires the help of a qualified medical expert witness. These experts are vital to establish the relevant medical standard of care and how that standard was breached by the defendants in a medical negligence case.

It is also necessary to prove that the breach of duty was the cause of your injury, illness or death. In medical malpractice claims, damages can include hospital expenses as well as lost income and future earning capacity, suffering, pain and even punitive damage. Your lawyer must prove the value of these damages, which could exceed your original medical expenses. This is a little easier in certain circumstances than in others. A lot of doctors work in hospitals that provide them with staff privileges. In those situations, a physician's employer may be held responsible by virtue of theories of vicarious liability.

Breach of duty

A physician is required towards the patient to comply with medical standards of care when providing treatments or services. A patient who is injured due to negligence of a doctor can bring a malpractice lawsuit.

Medical negligence can be a result of various actions, including errors in diagnosis, medication dosage and health management, treatment and follow-up care. To make a claim valid the plaintiff has to prove four legal elements. These include:

The first step is to ensure there will be a connection between doctor and the patient. The physician must have an obligation to inform the patient of any potential risks or issues that may arise from the procedure. Failure to do this could render the physician liable for negligence, even if a procedure was performed perfectly. If the doctor didn't inform the patient that a certain surgery had 30% chance of losing limbs then the patient may not have consented to it.

The other element to be proven is a breach of the standard of care. To prove this, the lawyer has to be able to present expert testimony to prove that the doctor deviated from the standard of care. Additionally, it has to be proven that this breach caused the patient's injury.

The court system isn't always quick to resolve medical negligence cases. This is because it requires a long period of time from the doctor and attorney, in addition to extensive research and interviews with experts and a thorough study of legal and medical malpractice Law firms literature. Physicians who are facing an action for malpractice will have to pay high court fees along with attorney fees and work products, as well as expenses for expert testimony.

Causation

Doctors, nurses and other healthcare professionals are individuals and they make mistakes. When these errors reach the level of negligence, medical Malpractice law firms patients could suffer life-threatening injuries. The proof that a health care provider violated his or her duty and caused an injury requires legal and medical knowledge. A successful claim requires four legal elements to be proved: a physician-patient relation as well as the duty of a doctor to care to the patient, the breach of that duty, and finally, the injury that resulted from the breach.

The injury must be proven to have been caused by the doctor's deviance from the standard of medical care. The legal standard for this aspect is higher than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" required in criminal cases. The attorney representing the plaintiff must convince the jury/fact-finder that it is more likely that negligence of the physician caused the injury.

A medical expert is often required at the beginning of the process to help identify all of these elements. According to Rhode Island law, only doctors with the appropriate training, education, skill, and knowledge regarding the area of accused malpractice can provide expert testimony on the matter. This is why choosing a qualified medical expert is an essential element of a malpractice case.

Damages

Medical malpractice lawsuits aim to collect damages that include future and past expenses that are due to an injury. The costs could include hospital bills, doctor's appointments, pain and discomfort, and lost wages. The amount of damages awarded is determined by the jury based on the evidence submitted.

The plaintiff or their attorney must prove four legal elements during the trial: (1) the physician owed a duty to them; (2) the doctor in breach of this duty through negligence; (3) the doctor’s negligence caused injuries; (4) the injury caused damages that were quantifiable. Unsatisfaction with the doctor's work is not considered to be malpractice, but a specific injury must be evident. An expert in medical practice can determine if a physician has strayed from the standard of care.

The legal process for a malpractice case can last for years, and involve a significant amount of time spent in "discovery," which involves the exchange of documents and the statements that are oath-taking by the parties involved in the case. Many cases are resolved before they ever reach the courtroom. However, a tiny amount of these claims get to the stage of trial for a jury.

To limit malpractice liability Certain states have taken several administrative and legislative measures collectively known as tort reform. In addition, some states have implemented alternative dispute resolution procedures like binding arbitration that is voluntary. The purpose of these alternatives to civil litigation is to cut down on costs of litigation and speed up treatment of malpractice claims, while reducing juries with excessively generous stipulations and removing frivolous medical claims.