Medical Malpractice Law

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

Malpractice law is an area of tort law that deals specifically with professional negligence. A malpractice lawsuit must satisfy four basic requirements.

In the United States, malpractice claims are usually filed in state court. To collect evidence, a variety of legal tools are used to gather evidence, including depositions under oath.

Duty of care

A doctor is bound by a duty of care whenever you are in a relationship with a doctor. This is true regardless of whether the doctor is treating you in a hospital, or in your home. However, there are certain circumstances where doctors can be at risk of malpractice even without the existence of a doctor-patient relationship.

A person with a duty of care has to act in a way that reasonable people would do under the circumstances. A driver, for instance has a responsibility of care to drive with safety and not to cause harm to other road users. If the driver fails to uphold this obligation and results in an accident, the driver could be held accountable for any injury that results.

Doctors are required to care for their patients at all times. This is even when a doctor is not your official doctor, such as when asking a doctor to give you advice in an elevator or at a restaurant. However, this obligation to be a good Samaritan is often restricted by Good Samaritan laws.

Medical professionals have a duty to inform patients of the dangers associated with certain procedures and treatments. Failure to do this is a breach of the doctor's duty of care. A doctor could also violate their obligation if they prescribe you a medication that interacts other medications you're taking.

Breach of duty

In general, doctors have the obligation to their patients to provide treatment that conforms to accepted standards of practice. This standard is established by the current laws and standards that are drafted by medical organizations. Any doctor who fails to adhere to the duty of care is negligent. A malpractice lawyer will look over the evidence to determine whether the standards of care were violated.

A doctor could violate their duty of care in many ways. It is not just a question of whether they've done something reasonable people wouldn't do in the same situation, it also covers what they could have done, but didn't do. Expert witness testimony is typically required to determine the accepted standards of medical practice.

A doctor could have violated their duty if they prescribe the medication that is dangerously incompatible with another drug. This is a common mistake that can result in serious health consequences.

However, just proving that there was a breach of duty is not enough to establish malpractice. To be awarded damages, you must prove a direct link between the doctor's breach of duty and your injury or illness. This is known as causation. This can be a complicated connection to establish in some instances, but a knowledgeable malpractice lawyer will do their best to uncover the evidence needed to establish the connection.

Causation

A malpractice claim is admissible only if the plaintiff can demonstrate that the defendant's negligent actions caused the injuries and losses. Proving medical negligence requires use of expert testimony to prove that a patient-provider connection existed and that the provider breached the standard of care that is acceptable. It is crucial that the harm to an individual be directly related to the act or omission which violated the standard. This is known as causality or the proximate cause.

It is important to demonstrate that the lawyer's negligence has had a significant negative impact for you when proving legal negligence. You must prove that the expenses of a lawsuit are greater than your losses. The plaintiff must also prove that the negligence resulted in tangible and quantifiable damages.

In the majority of malpractice cases the discovery process involves oral depositions. Your lawyer will represent your interests at these depositions. They will ask questions to defense experts to challenge their findings and to show that the evidence is in support of the assertions. A medical malpractice lawyer with experience is essential to your case since establishing the four elements, which include duty breach, causation, and harm, can be complex and time-consuming. Your lawyer will guide you through each step of the process. The more steps you complete the better chances you are of winning your claim.

Damages

The amount of compensation a person will receive when suing a medical professional will depend on the severity the injury and how much money they'll require to cover medical expenses loss of income, any other financial loss. In certain instances the plaintiff may be awarded punitive damages to penalize the doctor for their actions. However, these are extremely rare because doctors must have been reckless or intently to be awarded punitive damages.

The law requires that a person who claims medical malpractice must prove four elements or legal requirements: (1) there was an obligation of care on the part of the physician; (2) the doctor violated this duty by a deviation from the standard of practice; (3) as a consequence of the doctor's negligence the victim was injured and (4) the harm is quantifiable in terms of an amount in money. Additionally the victim must bring a lawsuit within the time limit which varies according to the state.

The law recognizes that medical malpractice lawsuits can be costly and complicated to resolve, particularly when they are based on complex issues such as proximate causes or foreseeability. Its aim is to provide victims the redress that they are entitled to, without allowing frivolous and opportunistic lawsuits to slow down the process. It also seeks to reduce costs by insisting that all defendants share the responsibility for a claim's success (joint and multiple responsibility) and limiting the total amount that a plaintiff can get if the other defendants do not have funds to pay ("damage caps") and stopping doctors from practicing defensive medicine, that is, altering their treatment plans in response to the threat of malpractice lawsuits.