Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation can be a difficult procedure. If a patient can demonstrate four factors, it will determine whether or not the mistake is malpractice. These are the following: a professional obligation; a breach of that duty; a loss resulting from the breach; and measurable damages.

Plaintiffs must demonstrate these elements with evidence like expert testimony, depositions, or discovery.

Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose

A physician's inability to correctly diagnose an illness or injury could result in grave complications, or even death. It is a typical cause of medical negligence. To prove negligence the patient or their attorney must demonstrate that a competent doctor under similar circumstances and working in the same specialty would not have missed the diagnosis.

Misdiagnosis doesn't always mean malpractice. Even highly skilled and experienced doctors make mistakes, so any claim of malpractice law firms has to be supported by other factors such as breach, proximate causation and Malpractice Lawyers actual injury. For example, if a physician does not properly sterilize their equipment before administering anesthesia and the patient suffers an infection due to the infection the doctor may be guilty of malpractice.

Legal actions claiming Malpractice Lawyers are usually filed in state trial courts, where the alleged malpractice occurred. Federal courts may be able to handle the case in certain circumstances. A claim may be filed before a federal court in specific circumstances. For example it could be a dispute about the statute of limitations or when the parties are of different nationalities. In other cases, certain claims are settled through voluntary binding arbitration. This is a less formal procedure involving professional decision makers that is intended to cut costs, expedite legal proceedings and remove the possibility of excessively generous juries. Arbitration is not available in all cases of misconduct.

Dosage of a drug that is incorrect

Medication errors are one of the most frequent causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. These errors are caused by a doctor who has submitted a prescription in the wrong format or giving the patient the incorrect dosage. These errors are usually avoidable. Based on the circumstances an individual pharmacy, hospital or other health care provider could be held accountable for malpractice lawyers injuries caused by an individual who took the wrong dose of a drug.

A doctor can prescribe the wrong medication as a result of a misdiagnosis, or simply making a mistake in the prescription. A health care professional may also administer the wrong dosage because of a glitch in communication. For example nurses might read a doctor's script incorrectly or a pharmacist could make a mistake when filling the prescription. In other instances the doctor may delay giving the correct medication, which can cause the patient's illness to worsening.

To be successful in a malpractice case, a victim must prove that the medical professional did not meet their standard of care and that the negligence directly caused the injuries. This requires medical expert testimony. Medical malpractice cases also must prove the extent and damages of the victim's injuries. This includes the cost of treatment and any lost wages. The more money you lose the greater the value of the claim.

Wrong Procedure

It might seem absurd for medical professionals to perform the incorrect procedure on a patient but this type of incident can occur. A surgeon who commits this error may be held accountable for malpractice. If a patient is injured due to an error during surgery can be held accountable for any mistakes that were made during the procedure.

Any health care professional who is accused of negligence must show that the patient was hurt by a specific act or failure to act. To establish this, the legal team of the patient must show: (1) that the doctor had a responsibility to provide treatment or care to the patient; (2) that he failed to fulfill his obligation; (3) that a causal connection exists between the breach and the injury and (4) the injury results in damages the legal system could address.

A breach of the duty of care is meaningless unless it causes injury, this is why medical malpractice law firm claims are usually made based on a law called "res ipsa loquitur." This law states that, in many instances certain injuries are obvious and evident that they cannot be explained except by negligent actions.

Based on the facts the plaintiff (the person who filed the claim or their legal representative) or their lawyer could decide to file the claim in federal or state court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed with state courts, however in certain circumstances, a medical negligence lawsuit could be filed with a federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

Surgery performed on the wrong site is a very rare error, but it can be considered medical malpractice when the procedure is performed on the wrong area of the body. This type of error is usually caused by miscommunications between members of the surgical team, or due to production pressures that lead to a surgeon having several surgeries to perform at the same time. In these situations, a surgeon is not solely accountable for a mistaken-site procedure because of the legal principle known as "res ipsa locquitur" which says that the outcome is a matter of fact and cannot be blamed on negligence.

If someone is injured during an improper procedure it is possible that the patient will require additional procedures to fix problems that were made worse due to the error. Patients and their families are left with expensive medical bills. It is essential to take these costs into consideration when calculating the financial costs of medical malpractice claims.

Surgeons are often found to be responsible for surgical mistakes since they are the ones who are responsible for properly preparing for the operation by double-checking patient's chart and medical records, coordinating effectively with other members of the medical team and making sure that the incision has been made on the correct site. In certain instances an anesthesiologist or hospital may also be held responsible. Medical malpractice cases are typically filed in state courts. However, in certain situations, they can be transferred to federal court.