Medical Malpractice Law

Even with the most thorough training and a pledge to do no harm, medical errors can happen. When they do, the consequences can be devastating for patients.

Malpractice law is a branch of tort law which deals with professional negligence. A malpractice lawsuit must satisfy four fundamental requirements:

Malpractice claims in the United States are typically filed in state trial courts. A variety of legal tools, such as depositions under oath, are used to gather information to support the case.

Duty of care

A doctor owes you an obligation of care when you have a doctor-patient relationship. This is applicable regardless of whether the doctor treats you at the hospital or at your home. However, there are situations where doctors could be liable for malpractice even without the existence of a patient-doctor relationship.

Someone who is bound by a duty of responsibility must behave in the same manner as a reasonable individual under the circumstances. A driver, for instance, has a duty of care to drive safely and not to cause harm to other road users. If the driver does not adhere to this obligation and results in an accident, he or she could be held responsible for any injuries that result.

Doctors are required to taking care of their patients at all times. This includes situations where doctors are not your physician, such as when you ask a doctor for advice in an elevator or outside of an establishment. However, the obligation to be a good neighbor is often restricted by Good Samaritan laws.

Medical professionals have a duty to warn patients of the risks associated with certain procedures and treatments. If they fail to do so, it is a violation of the doctor's duty of responsibility. Doctors may also violate their obligation if they prescribe you medication that interacts with other medications you take.

Breach of duty

Generally, doctors owe patients a duty to provide medical care that meets the accepted standards of care. This standard is established by current laws and guidelines that are drafted by medical organizations. Any doctor who fails to adhere to this obligation is deemed negligent. A malpractice attorney will examine the evidence and determine if there was a breach of the standard of care.

A doctor could violate their duty of care in a variety of ways. It's not just about whether the doctor did something normal people would not do in the same circumstances but also things they should have done or didn't do. In most cases, it requires expert witness testimony to determine what the accepted medical standard of care would have been.

For example, a doctor who prescribes a medication known to be dangerously interfering with other drugs may have breached their duty. This is a frequent error that could have grave consequences for your health.

However, simply proving that a breach of duty occurred is not enough to prove malpractice. To be awarded damages, you have to show that there was a direct link between the breach of duty committed by the doctor and your injury or illness. This is called causation. This is a challenging connection to establish in certain cases, but a skilled malpractice lawyer will work hard to uncover the evidence needed to establish this link.

Causation

A malpractice lawyers case only has legitimacy if the plaintiff can prove that the defendant's negligent actions caused the injuries and losses. Expert testimony is required to establish medical negligence. This requires establishing that there was a relationship between the patient and the provider and that the doctor's actions violated the acceptable standard. It is essential that the injury of the person be directly tied to the act or omission that breached the standard. This is called causality or causality or proximate cause.

When proving legal malpractice in court, you must prove that the lawyer's lapse caused significant negative consequences for you. A lawsuit can be expensive and you must be able to show that your losses exceed the cost of the litigation. The plaintiff has to also prove that the negligence caused real and tangible damage.

Most malpractice cases go through an investigation process that involves oral depositions. Your lawyer can represent your interests during these depositions. They will ask questions of the experts on defense to challenge their findings and to prove that the evidence backs the allegations. It is vital to have an experienced medical malpractice lawyer on your side because the process of establishing the four elements of malpractice, including duty, breach, causation and harm, is time-consuming and complex. Your lawyer is aware of every step of the process and will help to meet all the requirements. The more steps you complete the greater chance you have of winning your claim.

Damages

The amount of money a person receives in a medical malpractice case is based on the extent of their injury and the amount of money they require to pay medical expenses as well as loss of income or other financial losses. In some cases there may be punitive damages awarded to the plaintiff as punishment for the malpractice of the doctor. These are rare, as doctors must have acted recklessly or with the intention of receiving punitive damages.

The law requires that a person alleging medical malpractice prove four elements or legal requirements: (1) there was a duty of care on the part of the physician; (2) the doctor breached this duty by deviating from the standard of practice; (3) as a result of the doctor's lapse, the victim suffered injury; and (4) the damage is measurable in terms of an amount in dollars. In addition the injured party must bring a lawsuit within the applicable statute of limitations, which varies by state.

The law recognizes that some medical malpractice claims are complex and costly to resolve, particularly if they involve complicated issues such as proximate cause or predictability. Its aim is to provide victims the redress that they are entitled to, without allowing unjustified and opportunistic lawsuits cause delays in the courts. It also aims to reduce costs by making sure that all defendants share the responsibility for the success of a lawsuit (joint and multiple liability) while limiting the amount that a plaintiff can get if the other defendants do not have funds to pay ("damage caps"); and preventing doctors from practicing defensive medicine, which involves changing their treatment plans in response to the risk of malpractice lawsuits.