Four Elements of a Medical Malpractice Case

Physicians are concerned about malpractice lawsuits as an actual threat. They can raise insurance costs and could alter the medical practice.

In general doctors owe their patients the obligation to follow accepted medical practices without deviation or omission. This is known as the standard of care.

To successfully bring a lawsuit against a doctor who has committed malpractice, an aggrieved patient must demonstrate each of the following legal elements with a preponderance of evidence: duty; breach of obligation; causation; damages.

Duty of Care

The primary element in a medical malpractice case is that the person injured was owed a doctor's duty that was not met. Medical malpractice claims are different from other types of negligence cases because they often involve a physician-patient relationship, which can be established through things like doctor's records or telephone consultations. In general, doctors who treat patients must adhere to the standards that are accepted in their profession and practice.

However, doctors could be held accountable for the actions of their staff members, including interns or assistants. Furthermore, they can be held accountable for the actions of emergency medical personnel who are under their supervision.

The next thing the plaintiff must prove is that the defendant failed to meet the standard of care in the circumstances. This can be established by expert testimony regarding acceptable medical procedures and the defendant's failure to follow these guidelines. The other element is that the breach directly injured the patient. To prove malpractice your lawyer needs to show that the breach of duty by the defendant directly caused your injury or the death of a loved one. This is known as proximate reason. For instance, if an negligent treatment alleged to have caused the injury would not have had a negative impact on your health irrespective whether it was executed or not, you would not be able to claim damages for any injuries or deaths that were caused by the conduct of the physician.

Breach of Duty

A physician who fails in their duty of care to the client could be held accountable for negligence. To prevail in a medical malpractice suit, the injured party must prove four things: that there was a duty of care and the physician violated the obligation and the breach resulted in injuries, and then the injury caused damages. The first element of a claim for medical malpractice is the standard of care which is determined by expert testimony. The standard of care is defined as the things that an "reasonably prudent" doctor would do in similar circumstances.

A doctor is in violation of this obligation when he or she deviates from the standard of care when treating the patient. For instance, if the doctor breaks the arm of a patient the doctor does not correctly set it or fails to cast the broken arm. The doctor's breach of this obligation causes the broken arm to heal improperly, resulting in partial or full loss of use and monetary damages.

Medical malpractice cases are filed in state trial courts, but under certain circumstances federal courts can also be able to hear these cases. Each of the 94 federal district courts in the United States has a judge-jury panel that handles medical malpractice cases. A majority of states have special state courts that deal with these cases, though they follow different rules for court procedure than federal district courts.

Causation

A patient may be entitled compensation for any damages suffered by medical professionals fail to perform their obligation to avoid harm. Medical malpractice claims can also be brought when a doctor performs a treatment with known risks and the patient wouldn't have agreed to the procedure had they been fully informed.

The plaintiff in a medical malpractice case must show that the doctor failed to follow accepted guidelines for practice, and that the failure was a direct cause of the illness or injury the patient was suffering from, and that the injury would not have happened but because of the negligence of a physician. This burden of proof is referred to as the "preponderance of evidence" standard that is less stringent than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard that is required to convict criminal defendants.

The lawsuits that allege medical malpractice usually include expert witnesses and lengthy pretrial discovery processes. Both parties invest a lot of time and resources in the preparation of a case, whether it settles or goes to court. This is the primary reason that malpractice claims are costly for both the plaintiff and the medical professional involved, and is one of the reasons that health care professionals and physicians groups are a part of efforts to reform tort law in the United States.

Damages

Depending on the type of medical negligence, the victims are able to seek punitive and compensatory damages. Compensation damages compensate victims for financial losses and costs due to the negligence of the doctor like loss of income or the costs of future medical care. Non-economic damages are compensation for physical pain as well as mental distress.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are typically filed in a state trial court. However, there are certain situations where a lawsuit could be filed in federal court. This is typically the case when a doctor is employed by a clinic that is funded by federal funds like the Veteran's administration or when the doctor is from other country, but practices in the United States as part of a treaty with extraterritorial authority.

Medical malpractice lawsuits are adversarial and require extensive legal discovery. This includes written interrogatories and depositions, as well as requests for documents. The victims of alleged medical negligence may also have to endure a jury trial, and face the possibility that their claim will be rejected by a judge or dismissed by a juror.

You must prove that medical malpractice law firms negligence, or error was the cause of your injury to win a case for medical negligence. The harm must be serious enough that a monetary award would substantially make up for your financial losses as well as emotional stress. Furthermore, New York medical malpractice laws have specific damages caps and other limitations on the amount which can be awarded to a patient who is successful in bringing a claim.