You'll Never Guess This Malpractice Lawyers's Secrets

Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation is a complicated procedure. If a patient is able to prove four elements, it will determine whether or not the error is malpractice. These are: a professional obligation and a breach of that duty; an injury resulting from the breach; and quantifiable damages.

Plaintiffs must also prove these elements through evidence such as expert testimony, depositions, or discovery.

Incorrect diagnosis and failure to diagnose

Failure to identify an injury or illness accurately can cause serious complications, or even death. Many medical malpractice cases result from incorrect diagnosis. To prove negligence, the patient or their attorney must demonstrate that a competent physician under similar circumstances and in the same area would not have misdiagnosed the problem.

It is not always a case of an error, but. Even highly trained and experienced doctors make mistakes. Therefore, any claim of Malpractice Lawyer has to be supported by other factors such as breach, proximate causality and actual injury. For example, if a physician fails to properly sterilize their equipment prior to giving anesthesia, and the patient develops an infection in the process, the doctor could be found to be negligent.

In most instances, lawsuits claiming malpractice will be filed in the state trial court where the alleged misconduct occurred. Federal courts could, however, have jurisdiction in certain situations. For example, a claim may be brought in federal court if it is an issue regarding the time limit or when there is a significant diversity of citizenship of the parties in the case. Additionally, some cases are settled through voluntary binding arbitration. This is a non-formal procedure which involves professionals who make the decisions. It is designed to lower costs, speed up legal process, and reduce the risk of overly large juries. Arbitration is not available in all cases of malpractice.

Wrong Drug Dosage

Medication errors, also referred to as medication mistakes are among the main reasons for medical malpractice suits. These errors are caused by a doctor writing prescriptions in the wrong format or giving the patient the incorrect dosage. These mistakes are usually preventable. According to the situation the pharmacy, hospital or other health care provider could be held responsible for the injuries caused by patients who were given the wrong dose of a medication.

A doctor might prescribe the wrong medication to a patient as a result of an incorrect diagnosis or simply due to a misreading of the prescription. A health professional could also administer the incorrect dosage due to a breakdown in communication. For example nurses might take a doctor's prescription and read it incorrectly or a pharmacist could make a mistake when filling the prescription. In other instances the doctor could delay giving the correct medication, which could cause the patient's condition to getting worse.

A person seeking compensation must prove, for the sake of winning a malpractice law firms lawsuit, that the medical professional violated their standards of practice and that their injuries were directly attributed to the negligence. This requires testimony from a medical expert. A medical malpractice claim also must establish the extent and severity of the victim's injuries. This includes the cost of treatment as well as any wage loss. The more money you lose the greater the value of the claim.

The wrong procedure

It's not likely that medical professionals would carry out the incorrect procedure on a patient, however, this kind of thing does occur. A surgeon who commits this kind of error could be held liable for negligence. However those who are injured by a surgical mistake could also be held responsible for any negligence that occurred on the process.

Any health care professional who is accused of negligence must show that the patient was harmed by a specific action or inaction. To establish this, the patient's legal team must prove that (1) the doctor had a duty to provide care or treatment; (2) that the doctor breached the duty of care; (3) that there is a direct and causal connection between the breach and the injury; and (4) that the injury results in damages that the legal system is able to resolve.

A breach of the duty of care is insignificant unless it causes injury, which is the reason medical malpractice claims are usually built on a legal concept known as "res ipsa loquitur." This law states that, in many instances, certain injuries are so obvious and evident that they cannot be explained except by negligent actions.

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

Wrong Surgery

Surgery performed on the wrong site is a very rare error, but it could be considered medical malpractice if the procedure is performed on the wrong area of the body. This type of error is often the result of miscommunication between members of a surgical team or production pressure that leads to an individual surgeon being assigned multiple surgeries at once. In these instances, a surgeon is not solely accountable for a mistaken-site procedure because of a legal principle known as "res ipsa locquitur" which states that the result is a matter of fact and cannot be blamed on negligence.

If a patient is injured as a result of surgery done on the wrong location it is possible that he or she will require additional treatments to correct problems caused by the surgical mistake. This can result in high medical expenses for the patient and their families. It is crucial to keep these costs in mind when calculating the financial costs of medical malpractice claims.

Surgeons are most often held liable for surgical errors since they are the ones who are responsible for prepping for the operation and double-checking the patient's medical chart and medical records, communicating effectively with other members of the medical team and making sure that the incision is located at the correct location. However, in some cases hospitals or anesthesiologists may also be liable. Medical malpractice claims are usually filed in state courts, however, under certain circumstances, they can be transferred to federal courts.