Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation involves a complex process. Whether or not an error is malpractice based on whether the patient is able to establish four legal elements that include a professional obligation and breach of this duty; harm caused by the breach and the possibility of quantifiable damages.

Plaintiffs must be able to prove the elements using evidence like expert testimony and depositions.

Incorrect diagnosis and failure to diagnose

Failure to correctly diagnose an injury or illness accurately could lead to serious complications, or death. A lot of medical malpractice cases involve incorrect diagnosis. To prove negligence the patient or their attorney must prove that a competent physician under similar circumstances and working in the same specialty would not have misdiagnosed the condition.

Misdiagnosis does not always constitute negligence. Even highly trained and experienced doctors make mistakes. Therefore, an allegation of malpractice needs to be backed by other elements such as breach, proximate causality and actual injury. If a doctor fails to sterilize his equipment prior to giving anesthesia and the patient is infected due to this, the doctor may be liable.

In most cases, lawsuits that allege malpractice will be filed in the state trial court in which the alleged error occurred. However, federal courts might be able to handle cases in certain circumstances. For instance, a claim may be brought in federal court in the event of a dispute over the time limit or when there is a significant variation in the citizenship of the parties in the case. Certain disputes are settled via arbitral arbitration, which is a binding process. This is a less formal procedure involving professional decision makers that is designed to cut costs, expedite legal proceedings and reduce the risk of overly generous juries. However, arbitration is not accessible for all malpractice claims.

Dosage for a drug that is not correct

Medication errors, also referred to as medication errors, are one of the main reasons for medical malpractice lawsuits. These errors could be caused by a physician who writes prescriptions in a wrong format or giving the patient the incorrect dosage. These errors are often preventable. In certain circumstances the hospital, its staff, a pharmacist or other health care professionals may be held liable for the harms suffered by a patient who was prescribed the wrong dosage of medication.

A doctor might prescribe the incorrect medication to a patient as a result of an inaccurate diagnosis or simply because they misread the prescription. A health care provider can also give the wrong dosage due to a failure in communication. For instance nurses may read a doctor's script incorrectly or malpractice lawsuit a pharmacist may fail to fill the prescription. In other situations, a doctor could delay administering the correct medication to the patient, which could result in their condition becoming worse.

To prevail in a malpractice case, the victim must prove that the medical professional breached their standard of care and that their negligence directly led to their injuries. This requires medical expert testimony. In addition, a medical mishap case must establish the severity of the injuries suffered by a victim and the damage they sustained as a result of the negligence. This includes the cost of treatment as well as any lost wage. In general, the greater a loss is then, the more valuable the claim will be.

Incorrect Procedure

This kind of situation is not uncommon. It may seem like a challenge for medical professionals to perform the wrong procedure on patients however, it happens. A surgeon who makes this error could be held accountable for malpractice. However, a patient who is injured as a result of a surgical error can also be held accountable for any negligence that occurred on the way to the procedure.

Any health care professional who is accused of misconduct must prove that the patient was injured due to a specific act or inaction. To establish this the legal team of the patient must demonstrate that: (1) the doctor was bound by a duty to provide care or treatment; (2) that the doctor violated that 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 be able to address.

A breach of the duty of care has no significance unless it causes injury that's why medical malpractice claims are usually made based on a law known as "res ipsa loquitur." This law says that, in many instances certain injuries are obvious and evident that they can only be explained by negligent actions.

Based on the circumstances depending on the facts, the plaintiff (the person who filed the claim, or their legal representative) or their lawyer may decide to file the claim either in state or federal court. Most malpractice cases are filed in state courts, however in certain circumstances, a medical malpractice lawsuit can be filed in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

A wrong-site procedure is a rare mistake, but it could be considered medical malpractice when the procedure is performed on the wrong area of the body. This kind of error is usually the result of miscommunications between the surgical team, malpractice lawsuit or production pressures that lead to a surgeon having multiple surgeries at once. In these cases the surgeon is not solely responsible for an incorrect-site procedure because of a legal principle known as "res ipsa locquitur" which says that the outcome is a matter of fact and cannot be attributed to negligence.

If the patient is injured during a wrong-site procedure, he or her may need additional procedures to correct problems that were aggravated by the mistake. Patients and their family members are left with hefty medical bills. This expense should be taken into consideration when calculating the financial consequences of medical malpractice compensation claims.

Most often surgeons are held accountable for surgical errors. They are accountable for preparing the patient for the procedure, as well as checking the chart and medical records of the patient, communicating with the rest of the medical team, and ensuring that the incision was made in the proper location. In certain instances the hospital or anesthesiologist could also be held accountable. Medical malpractice legal claims are usually filed in state courts, but in certain situations they may be transferred to federal court.