Making Medical Malpractice Legal
Medical malpractice is a complicated legal matter. Physicians must take steps to safeguard themselves against risk by purchasing adequate medical malpractice insurance.
Patients must prove that the physician’s breach of duty led to injury. Damages are dependent on economic losses, like lost income, future medical expenses as well as non-economic losses, such as discomfort and pain.
Duty of care
The first element that medical malpractice lawyers need to establish in a case is the obligation of care. All healthcare professionals have the obligation to act according to the current standard of care for their specific field. This includes doctors, nurses and other medical professionals. It also extends to assistants, interns, and medical students working under the direction of an attending doctor or physician.
A medical expert witness determines the standard of medical care in court. They review the medical documents and compare them to what a competent doctor in the same field would do under similar circumstances.
If the healthcare professional’s or their conduct fell in the range of this standard, they’ve breached duty of care, and resulted in injury. The injured patient has to demonstrate that the breach of duty by the healthcare professional directly led to their loss. This may include scarring, injury, or pain. They also can include financial losses like medical malpractice law firm expenses and lost wages.
For example, if a surgeon left a surgical tool in the patient after surgery, it may cause discomfort and even lead to damages. A medical malpractice lawyer can prove that the surgical team’s lapse of their duty caused these damages by relying on the testimony of an expert in medicine. This is known as direct causality. The patient is also required to show evidence of their injuries.
Breach of duty
A malpractice claim can be filed if medical professionals violate the accepted standards of practice and causes injuries to a patient. The victim must prove that the doctor acted in breach of their duty of caring by providing care that was substandard. The doctor was in a negligent manner, and this caused the patient to suffer injury.
To establish that the doctor did not fulfill their duty of care, a skilled attorney has to present expert evidence to prove that the defendant failed to possess or exercise the level of knowledge and expertise possessed by physicians who specialize in their field. The plaintiff must also prove that there is a direct link between the alleged negligence, and the injuries sustained. This is referred to as causation.
A plaintiff who has been injured must also prove that he or she would not have chosen the treatment they received if informed. This is also known as the principle of informed consent. Doctors are required to inform their patients about any potential risks or complications that might arise from a certain procedure prior to operating or placing the patient under anesthesia.
The statute of limitations is a period of time that must be adhered to by the person who has been injured to bring a claim against medical malpractice. A court will almost always dismiss a case filed after the statute of limitations has passed regardless of how grave the health care provider’s mistake or how harmful to the patient was. Some states require that the parties to a lawsuit for medical malpractice submit their claims to an independent screening panel or arbitration that is voluntary and binding as an alternative to a trial.
Causation
Medical malpractice cases require a substantial investment of time and money both for the physicians who are involved in the litigation and their lawyers. The process of proving doctors’ treatment differed from the accepted standard calls for a thorough review of records, interviews with witnesses, and an analysis of medical literature. Furthermore, lawsuits must be filed within the specified period of time set by law. Generally, this deadline – referred to as the statute of limitations begins to run when a medical error was made or the patient realised (or should have known according to the law) that they were harmed by a physician’s mistake.
The proof of causation is one the four elements that are essential to a medical malpractice claim, and perhaps the most difficult to prove. A lawyer must establish that the breach of the duty of care directly caused injury to the patient and that the losses or injuries were not the case but due to the negligence of a physician. This is known as actual or proximate cause. The legal requirement for proving this aspect differs from that used in criminal cases, where the proof must be beyond a reasonable doubt.
If a lawyer can prove these three key factors, then the victim of malpractice could be eligible for monetary compensation from the defendant. The purpose of these monetary damages is to compensate the victim for injuries, loss of quality of life and other damages.
Damages
Medical malpractice cases can be complex and require expert testimony. The lawyer representing the plaintiff must demonstrate that a doctor did not follow the standards of medical treatment and that the failure led to injury, and that this injury was caused by damages. The plaintiff should also demonstrate that the injury was measurable in terms of money.
Medical negligence claims are among the most complex and expensive legal cases you can bring. To combat the high costs of litigation, several states have introduced tort reform laws that aim to improve efficiency, decrease frivolous claims, and pay the injured fairly. Some of these measures include reducing the amount that plaintiffs can get for suffering and pain; limiting the number of defendants who could be held accountable for paying an award (joint and multiple liability) as well as making arbitration, mediation or the submission of claims to a panel to be screened prior to trial; and imposing caps on damages in medical malpractice suits.
Many malpractice claims also have technical aspects that are difficult to understand by juries and judges. Experts are critical in these cases. For example when a surgeon makes a mistake during a surgery, the patient’s lawyer must engage an orthopedic expert to explain why the specific error could not have happened should the surgeon have acted according to the relevant medical standards of care.