How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Bringing a medical malpractice suit against a hospital or doctor requires proof that the defendant acted in breach of his or her duty to patients. This can be evidence from hospitals and medical records.
Our lawyers are adept at deposing witnesses in a professional manner. They could be doctors, other medical professionals in private practice or work at a clinic or hospital.
Negligence
Patients are entitled to be treated with respect to certain standards when they visit a hospital, doctor or health professional. In some instances, these standards are not met, or even breached. The results of this breach could be devastating.
When someone suffers injury or death because of a doctor’s negligence, they could bring a lawsuit against the medical professional. To establish a case, an injured patient must demonstrate four legal elements including breach of duty and damages and causation.
Malpractice is defined as an act by an individual doctor that is not in line with the norms of the medical profession and causes harm to a patient. It is a part of tort law, which addresses civil wrongs not criminal offenses or contractual obligations.
Medical negligence is different from normal negligence in that the person who is injured has to prove that the doctor knew, or should have known, that their actions were likely to cause harm before they are able to claim malpractice. Normal negligence is not a requirement. A surgeon who accidentally cuts or nicks one of the nerves or veins during surgery is guilty of negligence but not malpractice. This is because the surgeon did not intend to hurt anyone.
In a medical malpractice lawsuit the defendant is bound by a legal obligation to treat the patient according to the standards of care that a reasonably competent healthcare professional with similar experience and training in similar circumstances could provide. The breach of duty is crucial because it demonstrates that the alleged negligence caused the injury.
Damages
In a malpractice lawsuit, damages are in relation to the losses you have suffered due to the negligence of a physician. These could include both financial losses, such as the cost of future medical care, and non-economic losses such as suffering and pain.
To be able to claim damages, it is necessary to demonstrate that a doctor did not fulfill the law and that his violation of the standard of care caused injuries, and that the injury caused financial harm that was quantifiable. This is a complex legal analysis that usually requires expert witness testimony.
Certain of these losses can be spotted immediately, for example, if a doctor’s mistake resulted in an infection or other medical complications that require additional treatment. Other damages aren’t as evident, like when your doctor misdiagnoses you, and you aren’t able to receive the right treatment.
You are able to sue for wrongful-death if your doctor’s negligence causes your death. You can claim punitive damages in addition the compensation you would receive in a survival lawsuit.
In most states there are limits to the amount you can recover in a malpractice case. These caps vary state-to-state and are usually applicable to both economic and non-economic damages. Some states also have rules that restrict the time it takes to start a lawsuit.
Time Limits
Like all lawsuits, there are deadlines that must be observed or the case could be barred. A malpractice lawsuit must generally be filed between two and six years after the malpractice attorney (www.selfhackathon.com) occurred. The timeframe for filing a lawsuit differs by state.
The time period can be complex, and it is crucial to speak with a lawyer right away. The law firm will investigate to determine if there were any mistakes and whether the case will be heard in court. This process takes months or weeks.
Medical malpractice cases are governed by different laws and the statute of limitations is often altered. For example, in Pennsylvania a patient must file a claim within two years of the date they discovered the malpractice or when a reasonable individual would have known that the harm existed. This is referred to as the discovery rule.
In certain states, the statutes of limitations begin to run on the date on which the medical error occurred. This could be a problem if the medical malpractice does not cause any immediate symptoms. Imagine, for instance that a doctor erroneously left a foreign body in the body of a patient following surgery. The patient may not discover the foreign object until at least three years after the surgery. In this case the statute of limitations might have started to begin running from the date of the surgery, not from the moment of discovery of the error.
Expert Witnesses
Expert witnesses are frequently called upon to explain the facts in medical malpractice cases. An expert witness for the plaintiff will testify regarding the doctor’s duty to the patient, medical standards for physicians who have similar qualifications in the same area and field, and the ways in which the defendant’s conduct was different from the standards. The expert will then explain how the departure directly caused the patient’s injury.
The defendant will engage a professional to counter the plaintiff’s expert, and give their professional opinion regarding whether the doctor met the standards of care. The experts may disagree however the fact-finder determines which expert is most reliable.
It is advisable for the expert to be working in the medical field since they are more knowledgeable about current practice. Jurors and judges typically consider professionals who are practicing more credible than experts whose only source of income is testimony in court.
It is also better to hire an expert who specializes in the field of malpractice. A medical professional who has prior experience treating breast cancer for instance, can provide an argument convincingly as to the cause of an injury. A medical malpractice lawyer in Ocala will know which experts to ask.