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Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation is a complicated procedure. The question of whether or not an error is considered to be malpractice is dependent on whether the patient is able to establish four legal elements which include professional duty; breach of this duty; harm resulted from the breach and tangible damages.

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

Incorrect diagnosis and failure to diagnose

The inability of a doctor to correctly diagnose an illness or injury could result in grave complications, or even death. Incorrect diagnosis is a common reason for medical negligence. To prove negligence, the patient or their attorney must demonstrate that a competent physician under similar circumstances and working in the same specialty would not have misdiagnosed the condition.

The misdiagnosis of a patient does not always mean negligence. Even experienced and highly trained doctors can make errors. Therefore, any claim for malpractice must be backed up by other elements like breach, proximate cause and actual injury. If a doctor fails to sterilize his equipment prior the time he administers anesthesia and the patient is infected due to this, the doctor might be liable.

The majority of lawsuits involving malpractice are filed in state trial courts, where the alleged malpractice took place. However, federal courts could have jurisdiction under limited circumstances. A case can be brought before federal court in certain circumstances. For example it could involve an issue regarding a statute of limitation or if the parties are of different citizenships. Some claims can be settled through voluntary binding arbitration. This is a less formal procedure with professional decision makers. It is intended to save costs, speed up legal proceedings and eliminate the possibility of excessively generous juries. However, arbitration isn't accessible for all claims of malpractice.

Wrong Drug Dosage

Medication errors, also known as medication mistakes, are one of the main causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. They can be caused by a physician prescribing the wrong medication or administering the wrong dosage to the patient. These errors are usually preventable. In certain circumstances, a hospital, its staff, a pharmacist or other health care providers could be held accountable for the injuries sustained by patients who were given the wrong dosage of medication.

A doctor can prescribe the wrong medicine because of a misdiagnosis, or simply failing to read the prescription. A health professional could also administer the incorrect dosage due to a failure in communication. For instance nurses might read a doctor's script incorrectly or a pharmacist may have a mistake while filling the prescription. In other cases the doctor could delay the proper medication, which can cause the patient's illness to worsening.

A person seeking compensation must prove, in order to win a malpractice claim, that the medical professional violated their standard of practice and that their injuries were directly attributed to the negligence. This requires medical experts to be able to testify. Additionally, a medical malpractice lawyers case must prove the extent of the victim's injuries as well as the damages they sustained because of the negligence. This includes the costs of a person's treatment and any wages lost. Generally, the greater a person's losses are in the greater value of the claim will be.

Incorrect Procedure

It might seem absurd that medical professionals would carry out the wrong procedure on a patient however, this type of event is quite common. The surgeon who commits this error can be found to be liable for negligence. However the patient who is injured as a result of a surgical error can also be held accountable for any negligence that occurred on the path to the procedure.

A health care professional accused of negligence must prove that the patient was injured as a result of an act or failure to take action. To prove this, the patient's legal team must prove that: (1) the doctor had an obligation to provide care or treatment; (2) that the doctor breached this duty; (3) that there is a direct 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 duty of care has no meaning unless it results in injury. This is the reason why medical malpractice cases are typically based on the legal doctrine "res ipsa locquitur," which says that certain injuries are so obvious they can only be explained by negligence.

Depending on the facts of the situation, the plaintiff (the patient or their legally designated representative) or their attorney may make the claim in a state or federal court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed in state courts, however in certain circumstances the case of medical negligence may be filed in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

The wrong-site surgery is rare however, it could be a case of medical malpractice Lawyer if the procedure is performed in the wrong part of your body. This type of error is often caused by miscommunication between members of a surgical team, or production pressure that results in a surgeon being assigned multiple surgeries at one time. In these cases the surgeon isn't all-in on his responsibility for a surgical error that is not performed correctly due to an underlying legal principle referred to as "res ipsa loquitur" which means that the consequence of the error is evident and cannot be attributed to negligence.

If a patient is injured due to surgery performed on the wrong site it is possible that he or she will require additional procedures to fix problems caused by the surgical error. Patients and their families are left with costly medical bills. These costs should be taken into consideration when calculating the financial consequences of medical malpractice claims.

Surgeons are most often held accountable for surgical errors because they are the individuals who are responsible for preparing 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 is located at the correct location. In certain instances an anesthesiologist or hospital could also be held accountable. Medical malpractice claims are typically filed in state court, however, they can be transferred under certain circumstances to federal court.