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How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A patient who believes he or she suffered a loss because of an error made by a medical professional can file a medical malpractice lawsuit. These lawsuits differ from the typical personal injury lawsuits in that they use the professional standard of care to determine the degree of negligence.

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

Duty of care

A surgeon, doctor or nurse, or any other health care professional, owes their patients the obligation of care. This legal concept states that any health professional who treats patients is bound to follow the accepted medical procedures.

The medical standard of care is a legal measure that any medical malpractice claim will be judged. It is vital for a successful case because it lays out a specific way for the person who was injured and his or her attorney to prove negligence by showing that a health care professional did not meet the standards of care.

Proving this standard of care often requires the assistance of a qualified medical expert witness. Experts like these are crucial to establishing the relevant medical standard of care and proving that standard was breached by the defendants in a medical negligence case.

Additionally it is imperative to prove that the breach of duty was responsible for your injury or illness. In medical malpractice claims damages could include hospital expenses and lost income, future earning capacity, pain, suffering, and even punitive damage. Your lawyer will need to establish the amount you are entitled to, which could be higher than your initial medical costs. In some instances it is simpler than in others. Many doctors work in hospitals that offer them staff privileges. In those situations, a physician's employer may be held responsible under theories of vicarious responsibility.

Breach of duty

A physician is required to the patient to adhere to the medical standards of care when providing treatment or services. When a doctor violates that obligation and an injury occurs an injured patient can seek compensation for malpractice.

Medical negligence can result from a wide range of actions, such as errors in diagnosis, dosage of medications and health management, treatment and aftercare. A lawsuit can be considered valid if the plaintiff is able to establish four legal elements. These include:

The first step is to ensure there will be a connection between doctor and patient. The physician has obligation to inform the patient of any risks or complications involved in the procedure. Even if the procedure is performed perfectly, the physician could be held liable for malpractice in the event they fail to warn the patient. If the physician did not inform the patient that a particular procedure could have 30% chance of causing limb loss, then the patient could not have gotten consent.

The next thing to be proven is a breach in the standard of care. To prove this, the lawyer needs to be able to present expert testimony to prove that the physician violated the standard of care. Additionally, it has to be proven that this violation caused the patient's injury.

It may take a lengthy time to settle medical negligence claims in the court system. It involves many hours of physician and attorney time, thorough examination of records, interviews with experts and conducting research into legal and medical literature. A physician who faces a malpractice lawsuit will need to pay high court fees as well as attorney fees and work products, as well as expenses for expert testimony.

Causation

All healthcare professionals such as doctors, nurses and other healthcare providers, are human and make mistakes. When those mistakes rise to the level of medical malpractice, patients are afflicted with serious and even life-changing injuries. It takes both medical and legal expertise to establish that a health provider has acted in breach in duty that caused injury. A successful lawsuit must establish four legal elements: a physician-patient relationship; a doctor's professional obligation to the patient; the doctor's violation of that duty; and the harm that results from the breach.

The injury must be proved to have been caused by the doctor's deviation from the standard of medical care. The legal standard for this part is higher than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" required in criminal cases. The plaintiff's attorney must convince the jury/fact-finder that it is more likely that the physician's negligence caused the injury.

Expert medical testimony is often required early in the process to establish all these elements. According to Rhode Island law, only doctors with the appropriate knowledge, education, experience and expertise in the field of accused malpractice can provide expert testimony on the matter. It is for this reason that selecting an expert in medical practice who is competent is so important in a malpractice case.

Damages

A medical malpractice lawsuit is designed to recover damages, which include future and past costs associated with an injury. These costs could include hospital bills doctors' visits, hospital bills, the cost of suffering and wages. The amount of damages to be awarded is determined by a jury based on the evidence submitted.

The plaintiff or their attorney must prove four legal elements during the trial: (1) the physician owed a duty to them; (2) the doctor did not fulfill this duty due to negligence; (3) the doctor’s negligence caused injury; (4) the injury caused damages that were quantifiable. Discontent with a doctor's work isn't a cause of malpractice, but the actual injury must be present. An expert witness will help to determine if a physician was not following the standard of care.

The legal process of a malpractice claim can last for years, and involve a significant amount of time spent in "discovery," which involves the exchange of documents and the statements made under oath by parties involved in the case. While a majority of cases settle before reaching the courtroom, a minority of these claims make it all through to a jury trial and a verdict.

In an effort to reduce the cost of litigation, a few states have implemented a number of administrative and legislative steps, known collectively as tort reform measures to limit the liability for malpractice. A few states have also implemented alternative dispute resolution methods that include binding arbitration. These alternatives to civil litigation are designed to cut down on the cost of litigation, speed up resolution and handling of malpractice claims, avoid overly generous juries, and filter out claims that are not worth the effort.