Four Elements of a medical malpractice - zx.greit.si - Case

Malpractice lawsuits pose a real and feared threat for physicians. They can increase insurance costs for physicians and change the medical practice.

In general, doctors have an obligation to their patients to follow accepted medical practices. This is known as the standard of care.

To successfully bring a lawsuit against a doctor who has committed negligence, the patient must demonstrate each of the following legal elements with the preponderance of evidence: breach of duty, breach of that duty, causation, and damages.

Duty of Care

The primary element of a medical malpractice claim is that the party who suffered was bound by a duty of the doctor who was not fulfilled. Contrary to other types of negligence cases, medical malpractice claims often require the existence of an established relationship between the doctor and patient. This could be established through documents like doctor's records or telephone consultations. In general, doctors who treat patients must adhere to the standards that are accepted in their profession and practice.

Doctors could be held accountable for the incompetence or negligence of their staff, for example, assistants or interns. They could also be held responsible for the actions of emergency personnel working under their supervision.

The plaintiff is then required to demonstrate that the defendant's conduct did not comply with the standard of care under the circumstances. This element can be proven with expert testimony about acceptable medical practices and the defendant's refusal to follow these standards. The second element is that the breach directly hurts the patient. To prove this your lawyer must establish the direct causality and impact between the defendant's failure to perform his duty and your injury, or your loved one's wrongful death. This concept is known as the proximate cause. For instance, if the negligence alleged by the defendant wouldn't have had an adverse impact on your health irrespective of whether it was performed or not, you won't be able to win damages for any injuries or deaths that were caused by the conduct of the physician.

Breach of Duty

A doctor who fails to fulfill their duty of care to clients can be held accountable for negligence. In order to prevail in a medical malpractice lawyers malpractice claim, the patient must prove four legal aspects which include: a duty to provide professional care existed and the physician violated this duty; the breach caused injury, and the injury caused damages. The first element of a medical malpractice claim revolves around the standard of care, which is determined by experts' testimony. The standard of care is defined as what a "reasonably prudent" doctor would do in similar or similar circumstances.

The physician's breach of this obligation is when he or she does not adhere to the standard of care in providing treatment to the patient. If a doctor fractures the arm of a patient they might fail to cast it correctly. The doctor's breach of this duty causes the broken arm to heal incorrectly, resulting in a complete or partial loss of use, and further financial damages.

Medical malpractice cases are brought in state trial courts, however under certain conditions federal courts can also take on these cases. Each of the 94 federal district courts in the United States has a judge-jury panel that handles medical malpractice cases. A majority of states have specialized state courts that handle these matters, albeit with different rules for court procedure than federal district courts.

Causation

Physicians swear to avoid harm, and should they violate this obligation and cause injury, a patient may be entitled to compensation for damages. A medical malpractice claim may also arise when a doctor opts to carry out a procedure that carries known risks, and the patient would not have opted out of the procedure had they been fully informed of all possible consequences.

The plaintiff in a medical malpractice case must show that the doctor did not follow accepted standards of practice, that this negligence was a direct cause of the injury or illness that the patient was suffering from and that the harm would not have happened but because of the negligence of a physician. This burden of proof is known as the "preponderance of evidence" standard which is less stringent than the "beyond a reasonable doubt" standard to convict criminal defendants.

Lawsuits alleging medical malpractice often require expert testimony and lengthy pre-trial discovery hearings. In the event that the case settles or goes to trial, attorneys on both sides spend an enormous amount of time and effort preparing for the trial. This is one of the main reasons why malpractice claims are so expensive for both the patient and the doctor involved, and it is one of the main reasons that physicians and health care organizations are in favor of reforming tort law in the United States.

Damages

Depending on the type of medical negligence, victims can recover compensatory and punitive damages. Compensation damages are awarded to patients for monetary losses and expenses due to the negligence of the doctor, such as loss of income or the cost of future medical care. Non-economic damages are compensation for physical pain and mental anguish.

Medical malpractice claims are generally filed in a state trial court. However, there are instances where a suit could be filed in federal court. This is typically the case when a doctor is employed by a clinic that is funded by federal funds such as the Veterans Administration, or if the doctor is from other country, but practices in the United States as part of an agreement that confers extraterritorial authority.

Lawsuits alleging medical malpractice are usually adversarial and require extensive legal discovery. This may include written interrogatories as well as depositions as well as requests for documents. Victims of alleged medical malpractice also may have to endure the pressure of an open jury trial and could be in danger of having their claim dismissed by a judge or rejected by jurors.

To win a medical malpractice claim, you must show that the medical negligence or error caused your injury. The harm must be serious enough that a financial settlement will substantially compensate for your financial losses and emotional distress. In addition, New York medical malpractice lawsuit malpractice laws have specific damage caps as well as other limits on the amount that could be awarded to a patient who has a successful claim.