How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

In order to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit against a hospital or doctor, you must have evidence that the defendant has breached their obligation to patients. This can be evidence from hospitals and medical records.

Our attorneys have a wealth of experience in taking depositions that are effective. They could be doctors or other medical professionals who are in private practice, or working at a hospital or clinic.

Negligence

When a patient visits a doctor, hospital or health care professional and receives medical care, they are entitled certain standards of medical care. Unfortunately these standards aren't always adhered to or even observed. The results of this breach can be devastating.

If someone is injured or suffers death as a result of a physician's malpractice, they may bring a lawsuit against the medical professional. To prove a case the injured person must prove four legal elements that include breach of duty, breach of duty, damages and causation.

bowling green malpractice lawsuit is defined as an action by a doctor that is outside the accepted norms within the medical community and causes harm to a patient. It is a subset of tort law that addresses civil wrongs that are not legal obligations or criminal offenses.

Medical negligence differs from normal negligence in that the person who is injured must show that the doctor knew or should have known that their actions would cause harm in order to claim malpractice, but normal negligence doesn't. For example an surgeon who accidentally nicks a nerve or vein during surgery could be found negligent, but not malpractice because the doctor did not intend to cause harm.

In a case of medical malpractice the defendant has a legal obligation to treat the patient according to the standards of care that a reasonably prudent healthcare professional with the same experience and education in similar circumstances could provide. The breach of duty is crucial because it demonstrates that the negligent act caused the injury.

Damages

In a malpractice lawsuit, damages are dependent on the losses you have suffered as a result of negligence by a doctor. They can be a combination of financial losses, such as the costs of future medical treatment, and non-economic losses such as pain and suffering.

To claim damages, you must show that the doctor violated the duty of care, that the physician's deviation from the norm resulted in injury, and that this injury resulted in quantifiable financial consequences. This is a complex legal analysis that typically requires expert witness testimony.

Some of these losses can be spotted immediately, for example, if a doctor's mistake caused an infection or other medical complications which required additional treatment. Some damages are more difficult to identify for instance, when a doctor misdiagnoses your condition and you cannot get the right treatment.

If a medical professional's negligence causes your death and you are unable to sue, you may be able to sue for fremont malpractice attorney the cause of death. You may seek punitive damages in addition to the money you'd get in a lawsuit for survival.

In most states, there are limits to the amount you can recover in a legal case. These limits vary from state to state and typically apply to both economic and non-economic damages. Some states also have rules that limit the time you have to wait to start a lawsuit.

Time Limits

As with all lawsuits there are certain deadlines to be adhered to or the case could be dismissed. Generally speaking, a medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed within two to six years from the medical bluffton malpractice law Firm occurring. The deadline for filing a malpractice lawsuit varies from state to state.

The time period can be complicated and it is important to consult a lawyer right away. The law firm will conduct an investigation to determine if there were any mistakes and if the case will stand up in the court. This process can take months or weeks.

Medical malpractice cases have different laws than other types of cases and the statute of limitations is changed. For instance, in Pennsylvania a patient must file a claim within 2 years from the date they discovered the malpractice or that a reasonable person could have realized that the injury existed. This is called the discovery rule.

In other states, the statute of limitations begins at the time the malpractice occurred. This can be problematic if the medical error doesn't cause immediate symptoms. Imagine, for instance, that a doctor has negligently left a foreign body in the body of a patient following surgery. The patient may not realize the foreign object until at least three years after the surgery. In that case the statute of limitation could have begun to run from the date of the surgery, not from the moment of discovery of the error.

Expert Witnesses

A lot of medical malpractice cases rely on experts to explain the details of the case. Expert witnesses for plaintiffs will testify about the doctor's duty of taking care of the patient, the medical standards in the region and specialty for that type of physician with similar qualifications and skills and the ways the defendant violated those standards. The expert will also explain why the defendant's omission directly caused the patient's injury.

The defendant will hire a professional to counter the plaintiff's expert and offer their professional opinion regarding whether the doctor met the guidelines of care. Experts may differ but the fact-finder is the one who decides which expert is most reliable.

It is best that the expert continue to be working in the medical field because they'll have better understanding of current practices. Jurors and judges typically believe that practicing professionals are more credible than experts whose sole source of income is testifying in court.

It is also better to choose an expert who has specialized in the area of malpractice. A medical expert with had experience treating breast cancer for instance, could present a a convincing argument as to the reason for an injury. A medical malpractice attorney in Ocala will know the best expert witnesses to consult.