• 목록
• 답변
• 글쓰기
• 게시판 리스트 옵션
  • 수정
  • 삭제

How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Bringing a medical malpractice suit against a doctor or hospital requires proof that the defendant breached his or her obligation to patients. This evidence may include medical and hospital documents.

Our attorneys have a wealth of experience in conducting effective depositions. These may be doctors or other medical professionals working in private practice, or staff members at a hospital or clinic.

Negligence

Patients have a right to be treated with respect to certain standards when they visit a doctor, hospital, or health care professional. Unfortunately, in some instances these standards are not adhered to or even violated. The consequences of this breach could be devastating.

If someone suffers injury or death as a result of a physician's negligence, they can bring a lawsuit against the medical professional. In order to have a legitimate claim, the injured patient must prove that there are four legal elements present which include breach of duty, causation and damages.

Malpractice can be defined as an act by an individual doctor that is not in line with the accepted norms of the medical profession and causes harm to a patient. It is an aspect of tort law that deals with civil wrongs that do not fall under legally binding or criminal in nature.

Medical negligence differs from regular negligence in that the injured party must prove that the doctor was aware, or ought to have known, that their actions were likely to cause harm before they are able to claim malpractice. Normal negligence does not. For example, a surgeon who accidentally creates a cut on a vein or nerve during surgery would be considered negligent, but not malpractice since the doctor didn't intend to cause harm.

In the case of medical negligence the defendant's responsibility is to treat the patient according with the standards of care that a reasonably prudent health care professional of similar experience and training would provide in similar circumstances. The breach of duty is significant since it establishes that the negligence alleged caused the injury.

Damages

In a malpractice lawsuit, damages are determined by the losses you suffered due to the negligence of a physician. These could include both financial loss such as the cost of future medical care as well as non-economic losses such as pain and suffering.

To recover damages, you need to prove that a doctor violated a duty, that his deviation from the standard of care led to injuries, and the damage caused financial harm that was quantifiable. This is a difficult legal analysis that typically requires expert witness testimony.

Some of these losses are obvious for instance, if your doctor made an error that led to an infection or other medical problem and you needed to seek additional treatment because of it. Other damages are less readily apparent, such as when your doctor is unable to diagnose you correctly, and you are unable to receive the right treatment.

You may sue for wrongful deaths if your doctor's negligence causes your death. In these claims you are entitled to the same amount you could have gotten in a survival action, plus punitive damages.

In the majority of states, there are limits on the amount you can be awarded in a malpractice law firms claim. The caps differ from state to state and are often applicable to both financial and other damages. Some states have laws that limit the time you can wait before filing a lawsuit.

Time Limits

As with all lawsuits, there are time limits which must be adhered to, or the case may be barred. A malpractice attorneys lawsuit must generally be filed between two and six years following the time when the mishap occurred. The exact time frame varies by state.

It is important to consult an attorney as soon as you can. The law firm will conduct an investigation to determine whether a mistake occurred and if it will be able to stand in the court. This phase can last for weeks or months.

Medical malpractice cases are governed by different laws than other types of cases, and often the statute of limitation is extended. In Pennsylvania patients are entitled to two years from the date that they discovered the negligence. This is known as the discovery rule.

In certain states the statutes of limitations begin to run from the date that the medical error occurred. This could be an issue when the mistake does not immediately cause symptoms. Imagine, for example, that a doctor mistakenly left a foreign object 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 that situation the statute of limitations could have run from the date of the surgery instead of the moment the error was discovered.

Expert Witnesses

A lot of medical malpractice cases rely on experts to explain the details of the case. An expert witness for a plaintiff will be able to testify about the doctor's duty of providing medical care to the patient as well as the standards of medical care in the area and the specialization for doctors who has similar qualifications and abilities and the manner in which the defendant departed from those standards. The expert will also explain the way in which the defendant's actions directly impacted the patient's injuries.

The defendant will hire an expert to challenge the plaintiff's expert and provide their professional opinion as to whether the doctor was able to provide the required care. The experts could disagree but the fact-finder will decide which expert is the most reliable.

It is more beneficial for an expert to working in the medical field since they'll have a greater understanding of current practice. Judges and jurors often believe that practicing professionals are more credible than experts whose only source of income is testifying in court.

It is also beneficial to use an expert witness who is skilled in the area of the legal malpractice. For instance a medical professional who is knowledgeable about dealing with breast cancer can present a an argument more convincing regarding the reason for an injury suffered by a plaintiff. A medical malpractice lawyer in Ocala knows which experts to ask.