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Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation
Malpractice litigation can be a difficult procedure. Whether or not the error constitutes malpractice depends on whether the patient can establish four legal elements: a professional duty and breach of this duty; harm resulted from the breach and the possibility of quantifiable damages.
Plaintiffs must prove these elements by presenting evidence like expert testimony, depositions and discovery.
The wrong diagnosis and the inability to recognize
The failure of a physician to accurately diagnose an illness or injury could lead to grave complications, or even death. A lot of medical malpractice cases involve incorrect diagnosis. To prove negligence the patient or their attorney must show that a competent physician under similar circumstances and working in the same area would not have missed the diagnosis.
The misdiagnosis of a patient does not always mean negligence. Even highly experienced and trained doctors make mistakes. Therefore, a claim of malpractice has to be backed by other factors, such as breach, proximate reason and actual injury. For example If a doctor is not careful to sterilize their equipment prior to giving anesthesia to a patient and they develop an infection as a result the doctor may be guilty of malpractice.
Lawsuits that claim malpractice are usually filed in state trial courts where the alleged error occurred. However, federal courts might be able to hear cases in specific circumstances. For instance, a lawsuit may be brought in federal court if there is an issue regarding a statute of limitations or if there is a substantial difference in citizenship among the parties involved in the case. In other cases, certain claims are resolved through binding arbitration that is voluntary. This is a non-formal procedure that is governed by professional decision makers. It is designed to reduce expenses, speed up the legal proceedings, and eliminate the risk of overly large juries. However, arbitration isn’t accessible for all malpractice claims.
The wrong dosage of medication
Medication mistakes, also referred to as medication errors, are one of the main causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. They can result from a doctor prescribing the wrong medication or giving the wrong dosage to the patient. These errors are often preventable. Depending on the circumstances the hospital or its staff, a pharmacist or other health care professionals could be held accountable for the injuries sustained by patients who were given the wrong drug dosage.
A doctor might prescribe the wrong medication because of a misdiagnosis or simply failing to read the prescription. A health care professional could also administer the wrong dosage because of an inability to communicate for instance, when a nurse reads the doctor’s handwritten script in error or the pharmacist makes a mistake in filling the prescription. In other instances the doctor could delay the administration of the correct medication, which could cause the patient’s illness to worsening.
A person who suffers from a medical malpractice claim must prove, in order to win a malpractice claim that the medical professional violated their standard of practice and that their injuries were directly caused by the negligence. This requires medical experts to be able to testify. A medical malpractice case must prove the severity and damage of the victim’s injuries. This includes the cost of treatment and any lost wage. The greater person’s losses are, the more valuable the claim will be.
Unskillful Procedure
It may seem impossible that medical professionals would carry out the incorrect procedure on a patient however, this type of event can occur. A surgeon who commits this mistake could be held accountable for green Bay malpractice lawyer (vimeo.Com). If a patient is injured because of an error during surgery can be held liable for any negligence that occurred during the procedure.
A health professional accused of negligence must prove that a patient was injured by a specific act, or inability to perform the act. To establish this the legal team representing the patient must demonstrate that: (1) the doctor had a duty to provide care or treatment; (2) that the doctor breached this duty; (3) that there is a direct causal connection between the breach and the injury; and (4) that the injury causes damages that the legal system could deal with.
A breach of duty of care is no value unless it results in injury. This is why medical malpractice cases are typically dependent on the lawful doctrine “res ipsa locquitur” which says that certain injuries are so obvious they can only be explained by negligence.
Depending on the circumstances depending on the facts, the plaintiff (the person who filed the claim or their legal representative) or their attorney may decide to file the claim in either state or federal court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed in state court, but under limited circumstances medical malpractice lawsuits could be filed in federal district court.
Wrong Surgery
The wrong-site surgery isn’t common, but can be considered medical st marys malpractice lawyer when the procedure is performed in the wrong place on your body. This type of error is often caused by miscommunication between the members of a surgical team or production pressure that results in a surgeon being assigned multiple surgeries at the same time. In these cases, a surgeon is not solely responsible for a wrong-site procedure due to the legal principle of “res ipsa locquitur”, which states that the result speaks for itself and cannot be blamed on negligence.
If a patient gets injured as a result of surgery done on the wrong location it is possible that he or she will require additional procedures to fix issues that were caused by the surgical error. Patients and their families are left with high medical bills. These expenses should be taken into consideration when calculating the financial impact of medical malpractice claims.
Surgeons are most often accountable for surgical errors since they are the ones who are responsible for properly making preparations for the operation, double-checking the patient’s chart and medical records, coordinating effectively with other members of the medical team and making sure that the incision has been located at the correct location. In some cases an anesthesiologist or hospital could also be held accountable. Medical malpractice claims are generally filed in state courts, but under certain circumstances they may be transferred to federal courts.