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Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation is a complex procedure. The degree to which an error constitutes malpractice depends on whether the patient can prove four legal elements such as a professional duty; breach of this duty; injury resulted from the breach and the possibility of quantifiable damages.

Plaintiffs must also prove the facts using evidence such as expert testimony and depositions.

Undiagnosed or Incorrectly Diagnosed

Failure to correctly diagnose an injury or illness correctly can lead to serious complications, or death. Many medical malpractice cases involve misdiagnosis. To prove negligence, the patient or their attorney must show that a competent physician under similar circumstances and working in the same specialty would not have misdiagnosed the condition.

There are many misdiagnosis that could be considered malpractice, however. Even highly trained and experienced doctors make mistakes, therefore the claim of malpractice must be backed by other elements such as breach, proximate causality and actual injury. For example when a doctor fails to properly sterilize their equipment before administering anesthesia and the patient suffers an infection because of it the doctor may be guilty of malpractice.

The majority of lawsuits involving malpractice lawyers are filed in state trial courts where the alleged malpractice occurred. Federal courts may however have jurisdiction in certain situations. A case can be brought before a federal court in specific circumstances. For instance it could involve the issue of a statute of limitation or when the parties are of different nationalities. Certain disputes are settled through binding arbitration. This is a less formal procedure that involves professional decision makers. It is designed to minimize costs, speed up legal process, and reduce the risk that comes with large juries. However, arbitration is not available for all claims of malpractice.

Wrong Drug Dosage

Medication mistakes, malpractice lawsuits also referred to as medication errors, are one of the most common causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. They can involve a physician prescribing the wrong medication or delivering the wrong dose to a patient. These errors are typically preventable. According to the circumstances, a pharmacy, a hospital or other health care providers could be held responsible for the harm caused by patients who were given the wrong dosage of a drug.

A doctor could prescribe the incorrect medication to a patient because of an incorrect diagnosis or simply by misreading the prescription. A health professional could also prescribe the wrong dosage due to an inability to communicate like when a nurse reads the handwritten prescription of a doctor incorrectly or the pharmacist makes a mistake in filling the prescription. In other cases the doctor may delay delivering the correct medication, which could lead to the patient's condition worsening.

A victim must prove, in order to win a malpractice claim, that the medical professional violated their professional standards and that their injuries were directly caused by the negligence. This requires medical experts to provide evidence. Additionally, a medical malpractice case must demonstrate the extent of the injuries suffered by a victim and the damages they suffered because of the negligence. This includes the cost of treatment and any lost wage. The more loss you suffer is, the more valuable of the claim.

Incorrect Procedure

It might seem unlikely that medical professionals could perform the incorrect procedure on a patient, however, this kind of thing is quite common. The surgeon who makes the mistake could be held liable for negligence. However patients who are injured by a surgical mistake can also be held accountable for any negligence that occurred the path to the procedure.

Any health professional who is accused of negligence must prove that the patient was hurt by a specific act or omission to act. To establish this the legal team of the patient must prove 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 causal link between the breach and the injury and (4) that the injury causes damages that the legal system could address.

A breach of duty of care is no meaning unless it results in injury. This is the reason medical malpractice cases are usually dependent on the lawful doctrine "res ipsa locquitur," which states that certain injuries are so obvious they can be explained only through negligence.

Based on the facts of the case, the plaintiff (the patient or their legally designated representative) or their attorney may file the claim in state or federal court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed in state court, however in certain circumstances medical malpractice lawsuits may be filed in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

Wrong-site surgery is a rare error, but it can be considered medical malpractice attorneys if the procedure is performed on the wrong part of the body. This type of mistake is usually the result of miscommunications between the surgical team, or due to pressures on production that result in surgeons having multiple surgeries at once. In these cases, the surgeon is not solely responsible for his or her responsibility for an incorrect-site procedure due to a legal principle called "res ipsa loquitur" which means that the result of the error is evident and cannot be attributed to negligence.

If a patient is injured during an operation that was performed on the wrong site and is injured, they may require additional procedures in order to correct problems that were exacerbated by the mistake. Patients and their families are left with high medical bills. It is essential to keep these costs in mind when calculating the financial costs of medical malpractice lawsuits.

Most often, surgeons are held responsible for surgical errors. They are accountable in preparing the patient for the procedure, checking the chart and medical records of the patient, communicating with the rest of the medical staff, and making sure that the incision was made at the right place. However, in some cases an anesthesiologist or a hospital could also be held responsible. Medical malpractice lawsuits are typically filed in state courts, but they may be transferred under certain circumstances to federal court.