Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation
The process of bringing a malpractice lawsuit is a complex procedure. Whether or not an error is malpractice based on whether the patient is able to establish four legal elements: a professional duty breach of this duty; injury resulting from the breach; and damages that can be quantifiable.
Plaintiffs must also prove these elements with evidence such as expert testimony, depositions, or discovery.
Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose
The failure of a physician to diagnose an illness or injury could result in grave complications, or even death. Misdiagnosis is a common cause of medical malpractice. To prove negligence the patient or their lawyer must demonstrate that a competent physician under similar circumstances and working in the same field would not have misdiagnosed the condition.
Every misdiagnosis can be considered to be an error, but. Even highly skilled and experienced doctors make mistakes. Therefore, an allegation of malpractice needs to be supported by other elements such as breach, proximate causation and actual injury. For instance when a doctor fails to properly sterilize their equipment prior to administering anesthesia to a patient and they develop an infection in the process, the doctor could be guilty of malpractice.
In most cases, lawsuits that allege malpractice will be filed in the state trial court where the alleged error occurred. However, federal courts may have jurisdiction under limited circumstances. A case may be brought before a federal court in certain circumstances. For instance it could involve an issue regarding a statute of limitation or if the parties are of different nationalities. Certain claims are settled through binding arbitration. This is a less formal process that involves professionals who make the decisions. It is intended to save costs, speed up legal proceedings, and eliminate the possibility of excessively generous juries. Arbitration is not available in all instances of malpractice.
Wrong Drug Dosage
Medication mistakes, also referred to as medication errors, are one of the most frequent causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. They can result from a doctor prescribing the wrong medication or administering the wrong dosage to the patient. These errors are typically preventable. Based on the circumstances, a hospital staff member, a pharmacist or other health care providers could be held accountable for the injuries of a patient who was given the wrong dosage of a drug.
A doctor could prescribe the incorrect medication to a patient because of an inaccurate diagnosis or simply because they misread the prescription. A health professional could also administer the wrong dosage due to an interruption in communication for example, when the nurse reads the doctor’s handwritten prescription incorrectly or the pharmacist makes a mistake in filling the prescription. In other cases the doctor could delay the proper medication, which can cause the patient’s illness to getting worse.
In order to be successful in a malpractice lawsuit, a victim must establish that the medical professional violated their standard of care, and that the negligence directly contributed to their injuries. This requires medical experts to be able to testify. Medical malpractice attorneys cases also must prove the severity and severity of the victim’s injuries. This includes the cost of treatment as well as any lost wage. The greater loss is, the more valuable the claim will be.
The wrong procedure
It’s not likely that medical professionals would carry out the wrong procedure on a patient but this type of incident is quite common. A surgeon who makes the mistake could be held accountable for malpractice. 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 accused of malpractice must demonstrate that the patient was injured because of an action or inability to act. To prove this, the patient’s legal team must show that: (1) the doctor was in an obligation to provide care or treatment; (2) that the doctor violated that duty; (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 deal with.
A breach of the duty of care is not relevant unless it causes injury that’s why medical malpractice claims are typically built on a legal concept called “res ipsa loquitur.” This law states that, in a lot of instances certain injuries are so obvious and evident that they can only be explained through negligent acts.
Depending on the circumstances of the situation, the plaintiff (the patient or their legally appointed representative) or their attorney can make the claim in a federal or state court. Most malpractice cases are filed in state courts, however in certain circumstances, a medical malpractice lawsuit can be brought in federal district court.
Wrong Surgery
The wrong-site surgery isn’t common however, it could be a case of medical malpractice when the procedure is done in the wrong part of your body. This kind of error is usually caused by a lack of communication between the surgical team or production pressures that lead to the surgeon performing several surgeries to perform at the same time. In these cases the surgeon isn’t solely responsible for an incorrect-site procedure because of a legal rule known as “res ipsa locquitur” which states that the result is a matter of fact and cannot be attributed to negligence.
If a patient gets injured as a result of surgery done on the wrong location it is possible that he or she will require additional procedures to repair problems that are aggravated by the surgical mistake. Patients and their family members are left with hefty medical bills. This expense should be taken into consideration when calculating the financial impact of medical malpractice claims.
The majority of times surgeons are held accountable for surgical mistakes. They are accountable for preparing the patient for the procedure, as well as checking the medical record and chart of the patient, communicating with the medical staff, and ensuring that the incision was placed at the correct location. However, in some instances an anesthesiologist or a hospital could also be held responsible. Medical malpractice claims are typically filed in state courts, but may be transferred in certain circumstances to federal court.