Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation is a tense process. If a patient is able to prove four elements, malpractice lawyer it will decide whether or not the mistake is a case of malpractice law firms. These are the following: a professional obligation in breach of this duty; a loss resulting from the breach; and quantifiable damages.

Plaintiffs must prove these elements by presenting evidence like expert testimony, depositions, or discovery.

Undiagnosed or Incorrectly Diagnosed

The inability of a doctor to accurately diagnose an illness or injury could result in serious complications or even death. Many medical malpractice cases result from mistakes in diagnosis. To prove negligence the patient or their attorney must show that a competent physician under similar circumstances and in the same specialty would not have missed the diagnosis.

It is not always a case of an error, but. Even highly skilled and experienced doctors make mistakes. Therefore, any claim of malpractice has to be backed by other factors such as breach, proximate reason and actual injury. For example when a doctor is not careful to sterilize their equipment prior to administering anesthesia to a patient and they develop an infection because of it, the doctor could be guilty of malpractice.

Legal actions claiming malpractice are usually filed in state trial courts where the alleged malpractice occurred. Federal courts could, however, have jurisdiction in certain situations. For instance, a lawsuit could be filed in federal court if there is disputes over the time limit for filing a claim or when there is a significant variety of citizenship among the parties to the case. Certain claims are settled through arbitration that is binding and voluntary. This is a less formal process with professional decision makers. It is designed to cut costs, speed up legal proceedings and eliminate the risk of overly generous juries. However, arbitration isn't available for all malpractice claims.

Dosage of a drug that is incorrect

Medication mistakes, also referred to as medication errors, are one of the main causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. These errors could be caused by a doctor writing a prescription in the wrong format, or giving the patient the incorrect dosage. These errors are often preventable. According to the circumstances the hospital or its staff, pharmacist or other health care providers may be held liable for the injuries sustained by the patient who received the wrong dosage of a drug.

A doctor could prescribe the wrong drug because of a misdiagnosis, or simply misreading the prescription. A health professional may also prescribe the wrong dose due to an inability to communicate for example, when the nurse reads the handwritten prescription of a doctor incorrectly or the pharmacist commits an error in filling the prescription. In other instances the doctor could delay the proper medication, which can result in the patient's health getting worse.

To win a malpractice lawsuit, a victim must show that the medical professional violated their duty of care and that their negligence directly led to their injuries. This requires medical expert testimony. A medical malpractice case also must establish the extent and malpractice lawyer the damages caused by the victim's injuries. This includes the cost of a person's treatment and any wages lost. In general, the greater a loss is in the greater value of the claim will be.

Incorrect Procedure

It might seem absurd that medical professionals would perform the incorrect procedure on a patient, however, this type of event occurs. A surgeon who commits this error may be held to be liable for negligence. Patients who are injured as a result of an error during surgery may be held responsible for any error that occurred during the procedure.

A health care professional who is accused of malpractice lawyer (a cool way to improve) must prove that the patient was injured because of the specific act or failure to act. To establish this the legal team representing the patient must prove that: (1) the doctor had the obligation to provide medical care or treatment; (2) that the doctor did not fulfill this duty; (3) that there is a direct and causal connection between the breach and the injury and (4) that the injury causes damages which the legal system has the power to address.

A breach of duty of care has no value unless it results in injury. This is the reason medical malpractice attorney cases are typically dependent on the lawful doctrine "res ipsa locquitur" which states that certain injuries are so obvious that they can only be explained by negligence.

Based on the facts the plaintiff (the person who filed the claim, or their legal representative) or their attorney may decide to file a lawsuit in federal or state court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed in state courts, but in certain circumstances the case of medical negligence may be filed in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

Wrong-site surgery is a rare error, but it could be considered medical malpractice when the procedure is performed on the wrong part of the body. This kind of error is typically due to miscommunication between the members of a surgical team or production pressure that results in the surgeon being assigned multiple surgeries at the same time. In these cases, the surgeon is not solely responsible for his or her liability for a wrong-site surgery since there is an underlying legal principle referred to as "res ipsa loquitur" which means that the result of the error speaks for itself and cannot be attributed to negligence.

If a patient gets injured by wrong-site surgery it is possible that he or she will require additional treatments to correct problems that are aggravated by the mistake. Patients and their families are left with high medical bills. These costs should be considered when calculating the financial impact of medical malpractice claims.

Surgeons are typically found to be responsible for surgical mistakes since they are the ones who are accountable for making preparations for the operation, double-checking the patient's chart and medical records, coordinating effectively with other members of the medical team, and making sure that the incision has been done at the correct place. In some instances an anesthesiologist or hospital can also be held liable. Medical malpractice claims are generally filed in state courts, however, in certain situations they may be transferred to federal courts.