How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

In order to bring a medical malpractice suit against a hospital or doctor you must establish that the defendant has violated their duty towards patients. This evidence could include hospital and medical documents.

Our lawyers are adept at deposing witnesses in a professional manner. They could be doctors, other medical professionals in private practice, or working 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 met, or even breached. The consequences of this breach could be devastating.

A lawsuit can be brought against a medical professional when a patient is injured or dies due to the malpractice of that doctor. In order to file a legitimate claim, the injured patient must prove that there are four legal elements in place: duty, breach of duty, causation, and damages.

Malpractice is defined as the act or omission of an individual physician that is in violation of the accepted norms of medical practice within the medical profession, and inflicts harm on the patient. It is a subset of tort law, which deals with civil wrongs that are not contractual duties or criminal offenses.

Medical negligence differs from regular negligence because the injured party must show that the doctor was aware that their actions could cause harm in order to be able to claim malpractice, however normal negligence doesn't. For instance a surgeon who accidentally cut a vein or nerve during surgery could be found guilty of negligence but not malpractice because the doctor didn't intend to cause harm.

In a medical malpractice lawsuit the defendant is under a duty to treat the patient in accordance with the standard of care that a reasonably prudent healthcare professional with comparable knowledge and experience in similar circumstances would offer. The breach of duty is important because it shows that the alleged negligence caused the injury.

Damages

Damages in a van wert malpractice law firm case are dependent on the losses you sustained as a result of negligence by a doctor. This can include both financial losses, including future medical expenses, as well as non-economic damages like discomfort and pain.

To recover damages, you have to prove that the doctor breached the duty of care, that the doctor's deviation from the norm resulted in injury, and that this injury had quantifiable monetary consequences. This is a difficult legal analysis that usually requires expert witness testimony.

Some of these losses are evident for instance, if a doctor made an error that resulted in an infection or medical condition and you required further treatment in the aftermath. Other damage isn't as apparent, such as when your doctor is unable to diagnose you correctly, and you are not able to receive the right treatment.

If the negligence of your doctor results in your death or death, you can file a lawsuit for the wrongful death. In these claims you are entitled to all the benefits you would have gotten in a survival action in addition to punitive damages.

In the majority of states, there are limits to the amount you can recover in a legal case. These limits vary from state to state and are usually applicable to both economic and non-economic damages. Some states also have rules that restrict the time you have to wait to file a lawsuit.

Time Limits

As with all lawsuits, there are time limits which must be observed or the case could be barred. A malpractice suit must typically be filed between two and six years following the time when the mishap occurred. The timeframe for filing a lawsuit is different for each state.

It is important to talk with an attorney as soon as possible. The law firm will investigate to determine if there were any mistakes and if the case could be heard in the court. This process can take several weeks or even months.

Medical south Daytona malpractice law firm cases are governed by different laws than other types of cases, and often the statute of limitations is changed. For example in Pennsylvania the patient has to submit a claim within two years from the time they realized the malpractice or that a reasonable person could have realized that the injury existed. This is referred to as the discovery rule.

In other states the statute of limitations begins to run from the date the malpractice happened. This can be an issue if the error does not cause immediate symptoms. Consider, for instance, that a doctor mistakenly left a foreign object in the body of the patient after surgery. The patient might not find the object until three years after the procedure. In that case the statute of limitations could have start running from the date of the surgery instead of the moment the error was discovered.

Expert Witnesses

Many medical malpractice cases depend on expert witnesses to help clarify the facts of the case. A plaintiff's expert will testify on doctors' obligations to the patient, the medical standards for physicians who have similar qualifications in the field and specialty and the ways in which the defendant departed from the standards. The expert will describe how the defendant's deviance directly caused the patient's injury.

The defendant will contract an expert to challenge the plaintiff’s expert, and provide their professional opinion as to whether the doctor met the guidelines of care. It is common for the experts to disagree with each with respect to their opinions, but the fact finder determines who is the most trustworthy based on their education and experience.

It is preferential for an expert to be working in the medical field because they'll have more knowledge of the current practice. Jurors and judges typically find practicing professionals more credible than experts whose sole source of income is a testimony in court.

It is also recommended to have an expert witness who is skilled in the field of negligence. For instance an expert in medical practice who is proficient in treating breast cancer can provide an argument that is more convincing about the reason for an injury suffered by a plaintiff. A medical newport malpractice attorney attorney in Ocala knows which experts to speak with.