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How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

A medical malpractice lawsuit against a doctor or hospital must prove that the defendant has violated his or her obligation to patients. This evidence may include hospital and medical documents.

Our attorneys are experienced at taking effective depositions of witnesses. These may be doctors or other medical professionals in private practice, or staff members at a hospital or clinic.

Negligence

If a patient is seen by a doctor or hospital professional and receives medical care, they are entitled certain standards of medical treatment. Unfortunately, these standards are not always met or even complied with. This breach can have devastating consequences.

If someone suffers injury or death because of a doctor's negligence, they can pursue a lawsuit against the medical professional. To have a valid case the injured person must establish four legal elements: duty, breach, causation and damages.

Malpractice is defined as an act or omission committed by the physician that goes against the accepted norms of medical practice in the medical community, and can cause injury to the patient. It is a part of tort law, which is concerned with civil wrongs not criminal offenses or contractual obligations.

Medical negligence is distinct from regular negligence in that the person who is injured must prove that the physician was aware or ought to have known that their actions would cause harm to assert malpractice, however normal negligence does not. For instance a surgeon who accidentally cut a vein or nerve during surgery would be in the wrong of negligence, but not malpractice since the doctor didn't intend to cause harm.

In a lawsuit for medical malpractice, the defendant has a duty to treat the patient in accordance with the standard of care that a reasonably competent healthcare professional with the same knowledge and experience in similar situations would provide. The breach of duty is significant because it demonstrates that the negligent act caused the injury.

Damages

The damages you incur in a case of malpractice are dependent on the losses you suffered as a result of the negligence of a doctor. This can include both financial losses, such as the costs of future medical treatment and non-economic losses, such as suffering and pain.

In order to obtain damages, you need to prove that a doctor violated a duty and that his deviance from the standard of care resulted in injury, and the injury had quantifiable financial consequences. This is a complex legal analysis that typically requires expert witness testimony.

Certain of the losses can be observed in a matter of minutes, for instance when a mistake made by a doctor led to an infection, or other medical complications that required additional treatment. Some damages are more difficult to detect in the event that the doctor is unable to diagnose your condition and you don't receive the right treatment.

If a medical professional's negligence causes your death then you can sue for the cause of death. In these claims you're entitled to all the benefits you could have gotten in a lawsuit for survival in addition to punitive damages.

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

Time Limits

As with all lawsuits there are certain deadlines that must be observed or the case may be barred. In general, a malpractice lawsuit must be filed within two to six years from the medical malpractice arising. The time frame varies by state.

The time frame can be complex, and it is crucial to consult a lawyer right away. The law firm will conduct an investigation to determine if there was a malpractice lawsuits has occurred and if it will be found to be valid in the court. This phase can last for weeks or even months.

Medical malpractice cases are governed by different laws than other types of cases and the statute of limitations is changed. For example, in Pennsylvania the patient must submit a claim within two years from the time they were aware of the malpractice, or the date a reasonable person would have recognized that the harm existed. This is referred to as the discovery rule.

In certain states the statutes of limitation begin to expire on the date on which the medical error occurred. This can be an issue when the mistake does not immediately trigger symptoms. Consider, for instance, that a doctor has negligently left a foreign object in the patient's body after surgery. The patient might not discover the object until three years after the procedure. In this situation, the statutes of limitations may have started in the year following the date of the procedure, not necessarily the discovery of error.

Expert Witnesses

Expert witnesses are frequently required to explain facts in medical malpractice cases. Expert witnesses for plaintiffs will provide testimony regarding the doctor's duty of providing medical care to the patient as well as the standards of medical care in the region and specialization for doctors who has similar qualifications and abilities and the ways in which the defendant deviated from the standards. The expert will also explain how the deviation directly contributed to the injury suffered by the patient.

The defendant will employ an expert to counter the plaintiff's expert, and offer their professional opinion on whether or not the doctor met the standards of care. Experts may differ but the fact-finder will decide which expert is most trustworthy.

It is preferential for the expert to still be working in the medical field, because they'll have more knowledge of the current practice. Jurors and judges tend to believe that practicing professionals are more trustworthy than experts who rely only on the testimony of a court.

It is also advisable to use an expert witness that is specialized in the field of legal malpractice. A medical expert with expertise in treating breast cancer, for example, can make an argument convincingly as to the cause of an injury. A seasoned Ocala medical malpractice attorney will be aware of the experts to consult for your case.