Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation
The legal process for defending malpractice is a complex procedure. If a person can prove four elements, it will decide whether or not the mistake is malpractice. These are: a professional obligation in breach of this duty; a loss resulting from the breach; and measurable damages.
Plaintiffs must also prove the facts using evidence like expert testimony and depositions.
Misdiagnosis or Failure to Diagnose
Inability to recognize an illness or injury accurately can cause serious complications, or even death. Many medical malpractice cases result from incorrect diagnosis. To show negligence, the patient or their lawyer needs to prove that an experienced doctor in similar circumstances would not have misdiagnosed a problem.
The misdiagnosis of a patient does not always mean negligence. Even experienced and highly trained doctors can make errors. Therefore, a claim for malpractice must be supported with other elements such as breach, proximate cause and actual injury. For example the case where a physician does not properly sterilize their equipment before administering anesthesia, and the patient develops an infection due to the infection the doctor could be liable for malpractice.
In the majority of instances, lawsuits claiming that there was a mistake will be filed in the state trial court in which the alleged misconduct occurred. However, federal courts might be able to hear cases in specific circumstances. For example, a claim may be brought in federal court if there is an issue regarding a statute of limitations or in the event of a significant variety of citizenship among those involved in the dispute. Additionally, some cases are settled through voluntary binding arbitration. This is a less formal process which involves professionals who make the decisions. It is designed to reduce expenses, speed up the legal process, and reduce the risk that comes with large juries. However, arbitration is not accessible for all claims of malpractice.
Dosage for a drug that is not correct
Medication errors–also called medication mistakes–are one of the main causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. They can involve a physician prescribing a prescription in error or administering the wrong dosage to the patient. These mistakes are usually avoidable. According to the circumstances, a pharmacy, a hospital or other health care providers could be held accountable for the injuries resulting from a patient who received the wrong dosage of a drug.
A doctor could prescribe the wrong medication to a patient as a result of an inaccurate diagnosis or simply because he/she misreads the prescription. A health care professional may also administer the incorrect dosage due to a lapse in communication. For example, a nurse may interpret a doctor’s prescription incorrectly or a pharmacist could make a mistake when filling the prescription. In other cases the doctor might delay the administration of the correct medication, which could cause the patient’s condition to worsening.
A person seeking compensation must prove, in order to win a malpractice Lawyer claim that the medical professional breached their standard of practice and that their injuries were directly attributed to the negligence. This requires medical expert testimony. A medical malpractice case must prove the extent and damages of the victim’s injuries. This includes the costs of treatment for a patient and any lost wages. The more the loss is, the more valuable of the claim.
The wrong procedure
This type of incident is not uncommon. It might seem unattainable for medical professionals to carry out the wrong procedure on patients, however, it is a reality. A surgeon who makes this mistake could be held accountable for negligence. Patients who are injured because of an error during surgery can be held accountable for any error that occurred during the procedure.
A health care professional who is accused of malpractice has to prove that the patient was injured as a result of the specific act or failure to act. To establish this, the patient’s legal team must prove that: (1) the doctor was bound by a duty to provide care or treatment; (2) that the doctor breached this duty; (3) that there is a direct causal link between the breach and the injury; and (4) that the injury causes damages that the legal system can address.
A breach of duty of care has no significance unless it results in injury. This is the reason medical malpractice cases are often based on the legal doctrine “res ipsa locquitur” which says that certain injuries are so obvious that they can be explained only through negligence.
Based on the facts, the plaintiff (the person who filed the claim, or their legal representative) or their lawyer may choose to file in either state or federal court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed with state courts, but in certain circumstances a medical negligence case 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 negligence if the procedure is performed on the wrong area of the body. This type of error is usually caused by a lack of communication between the surgical team or production pressures that lead to the surgeon performing multiple surgeries scheduled at the same time. In these instances, the surgeon is not all-in on his responsibility for a surgical error that is not performed correctly due to a legal principle called “res ipsa loquitur” which means that the outcome of the error is evident and cannot be attributed to negligence.
If a patient is injured during an improper procedure, he or her may need additional procedures to correct problems that were made worse due to the error. This could result in expensive medical bills for patients and their families. It is important to take these costs into consideration when calculating the financial costs of medical malpractice lawsuits.
The majority of times, surgeons are held responsible for surgical mistakes. They are accountable for preparing the patient for the procedure, as well as checking the medical record and chart of the patient, communicating with the rest of the medical personnel, and ensuring that the incision was placed in the proper location. In some cases an anesthesiologist or hospital may also be held responsible. Medical malpractice claims are generally filed in state court but they may be transferred under certain circumstances to federal court.