Four Elements of a Medical Malpractice Case

Malpractice lawsuits pose a real and serious threat to doctors. They could increase the cost of insurance for doctors and also alter medical practice.

In general, doctors are under a duty to their patients to follow accepted medical practices. This is known as the standard of care.

To successfully bring a lawsuit against a doctor who has committed negligence, the patient must prove each of the following legal elements with a preponderance of evidence: duty; breach of that duty, causation, and damages.

Duty of Care

The most important element in a medical malpractice case is that the person who was injured was owed a duty to a doctor which was not fulfilled. Medical malpractice cases differ from other types of negligence claims in that they typically involve a patient-physician relationship that can be established through documents from a doctor or phone consultations. Generally, physicians who treat patients must adhere to the accepted standards of their profession and practice.

However, doctors could be accountable for the wrongful actions of their staff members, including interns or assistants. They may also be held accountable for the actions of emergency personnel under their supervision.

The next thing that a plaintiff has to prove is that the defendant failed to adhere to the standard of care in the circumstances. This is a fact that can be demonstrated with expert testimony about acceptable medical practices and the defendant's failure to comply with these guidelines. The other element is that the breach directly hurts the patient. To prove this your lawyer must prove an immediate cause and effect between the defendant's failure to perform his duty and your injury, or your loved one's death. This is called proximate cause. For example, if the alleged negligent treatment wouldn't have had an adverse effect on your health irrespective of whether it was performed or not, then you wouldn't be able claim damages for any injuries or deaths that were believed to have been caused by the conduct of the physician.

Breach of Duty

A doctor who does not fulfill their obligation of care to clients can be held accountable for negligence. In order to win a medical malpractice lawsuit, the injured party must establish four elements: there was a duty to care and the doctor breached the duty and that the breach caused injury and finally the injury resulted in damages. The first aspect of a medical malpractice case is the standard of care which is determined through expert testimony. The standard of care is defined as the things that a "reasonably prudent" doctor would do in similar or similar circumstances.

The physician's violation of this obligation occurs when he deviates from the standard of care when providing treatment to the patient. For instance, when a physician breaks a patient's arm when he fails to correctly set it or fails to cast the broken arm. The doctor's breach of this obligation causes the broken part to heal improperly, which results in the complete or partial loss of use, and further financial damages.

In the majority of instances, medical malpractice cases are filed with state trial courts. However under certain circumstances federal courts can consider these claims. The 94 federal district courts across the United States each have a judge and jury panel that decides on these cases. The majority of states have a special system of state courts that handle the issues. They do however, follow different rules of court procedures than federal district courts.

Causation

Physicians take an oath to protect their patients and should they violate that duty and cause injury, the patient may be legally entitled to compensation for their losses. medical malpractice lawyers malpractice claims can also arise when the physician performs a procedure that is associated with known risks and the patient wouldn't have consented to the procedure had they been fully informed.

The plaintiff in a medical malpractice case must prove that the medical professional did not adhere to accepted standards of practice, that this negligence was the direct cause of the injury or illness the patient suffered and that the harm could not have occurred if it weren't for the physician's negligence. This burden of proof is also known as the "preponderance of evidence" standard that is less arduous than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard that is required to convict criminal defendants.

Lawsuits alleging medical malpractice often require expert testimony and lengthy pretrial discovery procedures. If the case settles or goes to trial, the attorneys on both sides spend an enormous amount of time and effort preparing for the trial. This is one reason why malpractice claims are costly to both the plaintiff and the doctor affected, and is one of the reasons that doctors and health care organizations are in favor of reforming tort law in the United States.

Damages

Victims can be awarded compensatory or punitive damages, based on the nature of medical negligence. Compensatory damages compensate the patient for the financial losses or costs resulting from the doctor's negligence. This includes income loss and future medical expenses. Non-economic damages may include the payment of physical and mental stress.

Medical malpractice Law firms malpractice lawsuits are filed in state trial courts. There are some situations where an action can be filed in federal courts. It is usually the case when a doctor is employed by a federally-funded medical malpractice attorney clinic such as the Veterans Administration, or when the doctor is a resident of other country, but practices in the United States as part of an extraterritorial treaty.

Legal actions involving medical malpractice are usually adversarial and require extensive legal discovery. This may include written interrogatories as well as depositions as well as requests for documents. The victims of medical negligence may also have to stand trial before a jury and may be in danger of their claim being denied by a court or dismissed by a jury.

You must prove that medical negligence, or error caused your injury to be able to make a case for medical negligence. The injury has to be severe enough to warrant a financial payment that will compensate you for your financial losses and emotional stress. In addition, New York medical malpractice laws have specific damage caps and other limits on the amount that could be awarded to a patient who is successful in filing a claim.