Medical Malpractice Law

Even with the best training and an oath to do no harm, medical errors can happen. If medical errors occur the consequences for patients can be devastating.

Malpractice law is a branch of tort law that focuses on professional negligence. A malpractice lawsuit must satisfy four fundamental requirements.

In the United States, malpractice claims are typically filed in state trial court. To gather evidence, a range of legal tools are utilized to gather evidence, including depositions under oath.

Duty of care

When you have the relationship of a doctor-patient, a doctor is required to provide caring to you. This is true regardless of whether the doctor is treating you in a hospital or in your home. However, there are some instances where doctors are responsible for malpractice even if there isn't the existence of a patient-doctor relationship.

A person who owes an obligation of care must behave in the same way as a reasonable person in the circumstances. For example, a motorist is obliged to drive carefully and not cause injury to other people on the road. If the driver is not upholding this duty and causes an accident, they can be held liable for any injuries that result.

Doctors are accountable for their patients' care at all times. This includes situations where a doctor is not officially your doctor, for instance when you seek a doctor's advice in an elevator or in the restaurant. Good Samaritan laws often limit this obligation to be good Samaritan.

Medical professionals have a duty to inform patients about the dangers associated with certain procedures and treatments. Failure to do this is a breach of a physician's responsibility. Doctors can also violate their duty of care when they give you a medication that is known to interact with other medications that you are taking.

Breach of duty

In general, doctors are under the obligation to their patients to provide medical treatment that is in accordance with accepted standards of practice. This standard is set by current laws and guidelines developed by medical associations. A doctor who violates the duty of care is negligent. A malpractice lawyer will look over the evidence to determine if the standard of care was not met.

A doctor may violate their duty of care in a variety of ways. It's not just a matter of what they did that a reasonable person wouldn't do in the same situation, it also includes what they should have done, but didn't do. In most cases, it requires expert witness testimony to determine what the accepted medical standard of care would have been.

For instance, a doctor who prescribes medication that is known to interact dangerously with other drugs may have breached their duty. This is a common mistake which can have serious health consequences.

It is not enough to prove that malpractice occurred. You must establish an actual connection between the negligence of a doctor and your injury or illness to receive damages. This is known as causation. In some cases it can be challenging to establish the connection. A skilled malpractice attorney will be able to find the evidence needed to prove the connection.

Causation

A malpractice lawsuit only has legal validity if the plaintiff is able to prove that the defendant's negligent actions resulted in the loss and injuries. Expert testimony is required to establish medical negligence. This requires proving that there was a relationship between the patient and the provider and that the provider breached the acceptable standard. It is essential that the injury of a person be directly linked to the act or omission which breached the standard. This is called causality or proximate cause.

It is important to demonstrate that the lawyer's negligence resulted in significant negative consequences for you in the event of you are proving that the attorney committed legal malpractice. A lawsuit can be expensive, so you have to be able to show that your losses are greater than the cost of litigation. The plaintiff must also show that the negligence caused real and tangible damage.

In most malpractice cases the discovery process includes oral depositions. Your lawyer can represent you at these depositions, and ask questions of the defense experts to challenge their findings and show that the evidence supports your assertions. A medical malpractice lawyer with experience is crucial to your case since establishing the four elements of a case, including duty breach, malpractice attorney causation, and harm, can be a challenge and time consuming. Your lawyer will guide you through every step of the process. The more steps you go through more steps you complete, the better your chance of winning.

Damages

The amount of compensation a patient will receive in a medical malpractice case depends on the severity of the injury and how much money they will need to cover medical expenses loss of income, any other financial loss. In some instances the plaintiff can be awarded punitive damages in order to punish the doctor for their conduct. These are rare, as doctors must have acted in recklessness or with intent to collect punitive damages.

Anyone who asserts medical negligence must prove four elements, or legal requirements. These include: (1) that the doctor had a duty of caring; (2) that the doctor violated that obligation by ignoring the standard of practice established; (3) the victim was injured as a result and (4) the injury is quantifiable. The person who suffered the injury must file a lawsuit before the statute of limitations in effect which varies from state to state.

The law recognizes that some medical malpractice claims are complex and costly to resolve, particularly if they involve complicated issues such as proximate cause or foreseeability. Its purpose is to ensure that victims receive the justice they deserve without allowing frivolous or opportunistic suits to clog courts. It also aims to reduce costs by making sure that all defendants share the responsibility for the success of a lawsuit (joint and several liability) while limiting the amount a plaintiff could get if the other defendants do not have funds to pay ("damage caps"); and preventing doctors from practicing defensive medicine, which involves changing their treatment plans due to the threat of malpractice lawsuits.