How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A patient who believes that he or she has suffered losses due to the negligence of a healthcare provider can file a medical malpractice lawsuit. These cases differ from personal injury lawsuits since they employ a professional standard to determine the degree of negligence.

In the United States, malpractice claims are resolved by state trial courts. Each state has its laws and procedures.

Duty of care

A surgeon, doctor, nurse, or any other health professional, has the duty of care. This legal principle basically states that any health care professional treating you has a duty to uphold accepted medical practices without omission or deviation.

The 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 and their lawyer to show negligence by proving the medical professional did not conform to the standards of medical care.

Proving the standard of care often requires the help of a medical expert witness. They are essential in establishing the standard of care that applies to the case and the manner in which defendants breached the law.

Additionally it is essential to prove that the breach of duty was responsible for your injury or illness. In medical malpractice cases, the damages often include hospital bills, loss of income and future earning capacity along with pain and suffering diminished quality of life and even punitive damages. Your lawyer must establish the exact amount of these damages, which can exceed your original medical expenses. This is more straightforward in certain cases than others. Many doctors work in hospitals that grant them staff privileges. In those situations, a physician's employer may be held responsible under theories of vicarious responsibility.

Breach of duty

A physician has a duty towards the patient to comply with medical standards when providing treatment or services. A patient who is injured as a result of negligence by a physician may file a malpractice suit.

Medical negligence can involve an array of actions, including errors in diagnosis, dosage of medication and health management, treatment and follow-up care. To make a claim valid the plaintiff must show four legal elements. These are:

First, there must be a doctor-patient relationship. The doctor has a duty to inform the patient about any risks or potential complications that could arise from the procedure. Failure to do so may render the doctor liable for negligence, even if the procedure was executed perfectly. For instance, if the physician failed to warn that a particular procedure had 30 percent chance of losing limbs, a patient might not have logically consented to the procedure.

The second aspect that must be proved is an infraction to the standard of care. To prove this, the lawyer must have testimony from an expert witness to prove that the physician violated the standard of care. It must also be established that the breach of the standard of care caused the patient's injuries.

It may take a lengthy time to resolve medical negligence claims in the court system. This includes a great deal of physician and attorney time, extensive examination of records, interviews with experts, and analyzing the medical and legal literature. A doctor who is facing a malpractice suit will have to pay hefty court fees, attorney's products and costs, and expenses for expert testimony.

Causation

Doctors, nurses, and other healthcare professionals are humans and they make mistakes. If those errors rise to the level of medical malpractice law firm negligence, patients can suffer severe and life-altering injuries. Proving that a medical provider violated his or her duty and caused an injury requires legal and medical malpractice law firms knowledge. A successful lawsuit must establish four legal elements: a doctor-patient relationship; a doctor's professional duty to the patient; the breach by the doctor of that obligation; and any injury that results from that breach.

The injury needs to be proven to be caused by the doctor's deviance from the standard of medical care. This element has a higher legal standard than "beyond reasonable doubt" in criminal cases. The lawyer representing the plaintiff has to convince the jury or fact finder that it is more likely than not that the physician's actions were negligent and that negligence was a reason for the injury.

Medical experts are often required at the beginning of the process to help determine all of these factors. According to Rhode Island law, only doctors who have sufficient training, education and expertise in the field of claimed malpractice can provide an expert testimony on the matter. This is why selecting an expert in medical expertise is an essential aspect of a malpractice case.

Damages

Medical malpractice lawsuits seek to collect damages that include past and future expenses due to an injury. These expenses can include hospital bills, doctor's appointments, pain and discomfort, and lost wages. The jury will decide the amount of damages to be awarded in accordance with the evidence presented.

During the trial the plaintiff or their lawyer must establish four essential legal elements: (1) a physician owed them a professional duty; (2) the doctor violated this duty by acting negligently; (3) the doctor's negligence caused injuries; and (4) the injury resulted in measurable damages. Dissatisfaction with a physician's work isn't a cause of malpractice, but the actual injury must be evident. A medical professional can determine whether a physician has strayed from the norm of care.

The legal process of a malpractice lawsuit can go on for several years, with lots of time spent in "discovery," which involves the exchange of documents and the statements made under oath by parties involved in the case. While many cases settle before reaching the courtrooms, a portion of these claims go all the way to an appeal to a jury and a verdict.

To reduce the cost of litigation, a few states have implemented a number of legislative and administrative actions, known collectively as tort reform measures, to limit liability for negligence. Some states have implemented alternative dispute resolution systems including binding arbitration. The objective of these alternatives to civil litigation is to decrease litigation expenses and expedite the handling of malpractice claims by removing juries with excessively generous verdicts and removing frivolous medical claims.