Medical Malpractice Litigation
Medical malpractice litigation is a complex and time-consuming. It is also costly for both plaintiff and defendant.
To be awarded monetary compensation for negligence, a patient must prove that the substandard medical treatment caused their injury. This requires establishing four components of law that include a professional obligation, breach of that obligation, injury and damages.
Discovery
The most important part of a medical malpractice case is gathering evidence. This can be accomplished via written interrogatories, or requests for documents. Interrogatories comprise of questions that the opposing party has to answer under oath. They are utilized for establishing the facts to be presented in a trial. Requests for documents can be used to get tangible documents, such as medical records and test results.
In many instances, your lawyer will take the defendant physician’s deposition, which is an audio recording of a question and answer session. This permits your attorney to ask the witness or doctor questions that would not have been permitted during trial. It can be very beneficial in cases involving experts as witnesses.
The information you gather during discovery before trial will be used to support your case in court.
Breach of the standard care
Injury caused by the breach of the standard of care
Proximate causation
A doctor’s failure to apply the degree of competence and expertise of physicians in their field of expertise and that resulted in injury to the patient
Mediation
Medical malpractice trials can be important, but they also come with numerous disadvantages. The cost, stress and time commitment required to conduct a trial can have a negative impact on plaintiffs. For health professionals who are defendants trials can result in humiliation and loss of prestige. It could also have negative effects on their career as well as practice since the financial payments they receive as part of a settlement prior to trial are reported to national databases for practitioners as well as the state medical licensing board, and medical societies.
Mediation is a cheaper time-efficient, risk-effective, and efficient way to resolve a medical malpractice case. Reducing the cost of trial and the risk of erosion of jury verdicts allows both parties to be more flexible in settlement negotiations.
Before mediation, both parties are required to provide the mediator with brief information about the case (a “mediation brief”). Parties will usually allow their communication to go through their lawyer rather than directly between themselves at this stage because direct communications could be used against them later on in court. When the mediation process is in progress it’s a good idea to focus on your case’s strengths, and be willing to admit its weaknesses. This will help the mediator to solve any gaps in understanding and give you reasonable offers.
Trial
The goal of reformers working on torts is to devise a system to compensate those who have been injured by medical negligence promptly and without a large cost. Although this is a difficult task, many states have implemented tort reforms to reduce costs and prevent frivolous medical malpractice claims.
Most physicians in the United States carry malpractice insurance to safeguard themselves from accusations of professional negligence in medical cases. Certain of these policies are required to be carried out as a condition of hospital privileges or work within a medical company.
To be eligible for financial compensation for injuries incurred by the negligence of a medical professional the injured patient must establish that the physician did not adhere to the appropriate standard of care in his or her area of expertise. This concept is known as proximate causation and it is a key element in a medical malpractice case.
A lawsuit starts by filing a civil summons and complaint in the appropriate court. After this is done the parties must then engage in the process of disclosure. This includes written interrogatories, as well as the creation of documents such as medical records. Also, it involves depositions (deponents are questioned by attorneys under an oath) and admission requests which are declarations that one side wants the other side to admit either in whole or in part.
The burden of proving medical malpractice law firms malpractice cases is extremely high. The damages awarded are based on both actual economic loss such as lost earnings and the expense of future Medical malpractice law firm expenses and non-economic losses such as pain and suffering. When pursuing a claim for medical malpractice, it is important to work with an experienced lawyer.
Settlement
Settlements are the most commonly used way to resolve medical malpractice lawsuits. In general, the actual dollar value of a case is negotiated between the plaintiff and the defendants (often through or alongside the defendant’s malpractice/professional liability insurer). The result is an amount for the injured patient, which is given to the lawyer of the plaintiff who then deposits the check into an account called an escrow. The lawyer will then deduct the case costs and legal fees according to the representation agreement, and pays the injured person compensation.
To prevail in a medical malpractice lawsuit, a patient must prove that a doctor or another healthcare provider breached their duty of care by not demonstrating the required level of expertise and competence in their field. They must also show that the victim suffered injury directly as a result of the breach.
In the United States, there are 94 federal district courts which are equivalent to state trial courts. Each of these courts has an ad hoc jury and judge panel that decides cases. In some instances the medical malpractice case can be transferred to one of these courts. In the United States, physicians carry medical malpractice insurance as a way to protect themselves from lawsuits for harm caused by negligence. Physicians should be aware of the structure and operation of our legal system so that they can be able to react in a timely manner to claims made against them.