Medical Malpractice Litigation
Medical malpractice lawsuits are complex and time-consuming. Both plaintiffs and defendants are also required to pay a high price.
To receive compensation in the form of monetary damages for malpractice, a patient must prove that the substandard medical treatment that they received caused their injury. This requires establishing four elements of law: a professional obligation, breach of that obligation, injury and damages.
Discovery
One of the most crucial elements of a medical malpractice law firm negligence case is obtaining evidence through written interrogatories as well as requests for the production of evidence. Interrogatories require to be answered under the oath of the party opposing to the lawsuit. They are used to establish facts to be presented in court. Requests for documents to be produced allow for tangible items to be obtained such as medical records or test results.
In many cases your attorney will record the deposition of the accused physician in an recorded session of questions and answers. This allows your lawyer to ask the physician or witnesses questions that would not be allowed at trial. It is extremely effective in a case involving expert witnesses.
The information gathered during pretrial discovery is used during trial to establish the following elements of your claim:
Breach of the standard care
Injury resulting from a breach of the standard of care
Proximate cause
Inability of a doctor to apply the expertise and knowledge of doctors in their field. This caused injury or harm to the patient
Mediation
Although medical malpractice trials can be required, they come with significant drawbacks for both parties. The stress, cost and time commitment that a trial requires can have a negative impact on plaintiffs. Trials can result in humiliation and loss of prestige for defendant health professionals. It could also have negative consequences for their careers and practice since the financial payments they make as part of a settlement before trial are reported to national practitioner databases and the state medical licensing board and the medical malpractice lawyer societies.
Mediation is the most cost-effective, time-efficient and risk-free method of settling the medical malpractice case. Parties are able to negotiate more freely as they don’t have the cost of a trial and the potential for juror verdicts to be eroded.
Both parties must provide an overview of the dispute to the mediator prior medical malpractice law firm to mediation (a “mediation brief”). At this stage, the parties will typically communicate via their lawyer, not directly with each other. Direct communication could be used as evidence in court. As the mediation proceeds it’s best to concentrate on your case’s strengths and be willing to admit its weaknesses. This will allow the mediator to overcome any misunderstandings and make an acceptable offer.
Trial
The goal of tort reformers is to establish a system to compensate those who suffer injury due to medical negligence promptly and without excessive cost. Many states have implemented tort-reform measures to cut costs and to stop frivolous claims for medical malpractice.
Most physicians in the United States have malpractice insurance as a means of protecting themselves from accusations of professional negligence. Certain of these policies are required as a condition for hospital privileges or employment with a Medical malpractice law firm organization.
To receive compensation for injuries caused due to the negligence of a medical professional the injured patient must prove that the doctor’s actions did not meet the standard of care that is applicable to his or her profession. This concept is called proximate causation, and is an essential element in a medical malpractice case.
A lawsuit starts when the civil summons is filed with the court of your choice. Following this the parties must participate in a disclosure process. This includes written interrogatories as well as the creation of documents such as medical records. Depositions (in which attorneys ask deponents under the oath) and requests for admission are also involved.
In a claim for medical malpractice the burden of proof is high. Damages are awarded based on economic losses (such as lost income or the cost of future medical treatment) and non-economic damages such as pain and discomfort. When pursuing a claim for medical malpractice, it is important to hire an experienced lawyer.
Settlement
Settlements are the most popular 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 a check for the patient, medical malpractice law Firm which is given to the lawyer of the plaintiff who then deposits it into an account called an escrow. The lawyer subtracts the legal costs and case expenses according to the representation agreement. He then gives the injured patients their settlement.
In order to prevail in a medical malpractice case, an aggrieved patient must prove that a physician or other healthcare professional had a duty to care, but violated the duty by failing to use the appropriate degree of expertise and knowledge in their field, and that as a direct result of that breach, the patient suffered injuries, and that those injuries are measurable in terms of monetary loss.
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 hears cases. In certain instances a medical negligence case could be transferred to one of these federal district courts. In the United States, physicians carry medical malpractice insurance as a way to protect themselves from claims of harm that is not intentional. Doctors must be aware of nature and function of our legal system in order to take appropriate action if an action is filed against them.