How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Both lawyers and physicians must invest significant time and money in a variety of medical malpractice lawsuits. This investment includes physician hours and work product attorneys' time, court costs, expert witness fees, and many other costs.

A medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed in the event that a healthcare professional has been negligent or has committed misconduct or committed an error or failed to take action. The injured party may be able to seek compensation damages, including actual economic losses, such as past and future medical malpractice law firms bills, and noneconomic loss such as pain and suffering.

Complaint

A medical malpractice lawsuit is a complex one and requires credible proof to be successful. The patient who has been injured (or their attorney if they've died) must prove each of the following legal aspects of the claim:

That a doctor or hospital had a duty to perform its duties in accordance with the applicable standard of care. The defendant violated this duty. The breach directly caused injury for the plaintiff. This is referred to as "cause". A breach of a duty of care does not directly cause injury. It must be proved that it caused the injury directly and was the primary cause for the injury.

To ensure the rights of a patient, and to ensure that a doctor doesn't commit any further errors, it is required to file a complaint with the state medical board. However, filing a complaint does not initiate an action, and is often just a first step to making the malpractice claim move. It is often best to consult with a Syracuse malpractice lawyer before making a report or other document.

Summons

As part of the legal process, a summons or claim form is filed with the court, and then delivered to the defendant physician. A lawyer for the plaintiff appointed by the court will go through the documents. If it appears that there could be a malpractice claim, the lawyer will file an affidavit and complaint with the court, describing the alleged error.

The next step in the legal process is obtaining evidence through pretrial discovery. This involves filing requests for documents including hospital billing and clinic notes, and taking the deposition of the doctor who is defending the case. Attorneys will then question the defendant under oath as to their knowledge of the case.

The lawyer for the plaintiff will utilize this information to establish the elements of a claim for medical malpractice in court. This includes the existence of an obligation on the doctor's part to provide medical care and treatment to patients; the doctor's infraction of this duty causality between the breach and the patient's injury or death and a substantial amount of damages that result from the injury or death to be able to justify a monetary compensation.

Discovery

During the process of discovery, both sides are allowed to request and receive evidence relevant to the case. This includes medical records before and after the incident of suspected malpractice, information on experts, copies of tax returns or other documentation relating to out-of-pocket expenses the plaintiff claims to have incurred, as well as the names and contact details for any witnesses who appear at trial.

The majority of states have a statute of limitations that limit the length of time that a patient is allowed to pursue a lawsuit after being injured due to medical error. Those time limits are usually set by law in the state, and are subject to rules called the "discovery rule."

To win a medical malpractice lawsuit the patient who was injured must prove that a physician's negligence caused specific harm that is physical pain or loss of income. They must also prove causationwhich means that the negligent treatment was the sole reason for their injury or death.

Deposition

Depositions are questions-and-answer sessions which take place in the presence a court reporter, who records the questions as well as the answers. Depositions are part of the process of discovery in which the parties collect evidence to use in a trial.

Depositions allow attorneys to ask witnesses, usually doctors for a series of questions. When a physician is deposed to testify, he or she must answer the questions truthfully under oath. Usually, the physician is questioned questions by one attorney, and then cross-examined by a different attorney. This is a crucial phase in the case, and the physician must give it their full attention.

A deposition allows attorneys to gain a thorough understanding of the doctor's qualifications in relation to his or her education, training and experience. This information is essential to proving that the physician breached the standard of care in your case and that the breach directly caused injury to you. For instance, doctors who have trained in the field of malpractice cases will typically declare that they have a vast experience in performing specific procedures and techniques that may be relevant to a particular medical malpractice case.

Trial

Your lawyer will make a complaint to the court and will issue a summons. This starts the process of legal disclosure known as discovery. Your doctor and your staff will work together to collect evidence to support your case. This typically consists of medical records as well as testimony from expert witnesses.

To prove that you committed a crime, you must establish that your doctor's actions did not meet the standards of care. Your lawyer must convince the jury that your injuries could be prevented if the doctor had followed the standards of care. Your doctor's lawyer will present defenses that contradict the evidence presented by your attorney.

Despite the common belief that doctors are the target of unsubstantiated claims of malpractice the decades of evidence show that jury verdicts reflect fair assessments of damages and negligence and that juries tend to be skeptical of large amounts of money awarded. The vast majority of malpractice cases settle prior to trial.