Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation involves a complex process. The degree to which an error constitutes malpractice law firms depends on the ability of the patient to establish four legal elements such as a professional duty; breach of this duty; injury caused by the breach and the possibility of quantifiable damages.

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

Undiagnosed or Incorrectly Diagnosed

Failure to correctly diagnose an illness or injury accurately can result in serious complications, or death. It is a typical cause of medical negligence. To prove negligence the patient or their attorney must show that a competent doctor in similar circumstances and working in the same field would not have misdiagnosed the problem.

Misdiagnosis doesn't always mean negligence. Even highly experienced and trained doctors are not immune to mistakes. Therefore, any claim of malpractice must be backed up by other elements like breach, proximate causes and actual injury. If a doctor does not sterilize his equipment prior to giving anesthesia and the patient gets infected due to this, the doctor might be held accountable.

In the majority of instances, lawsuits claiming that there was a mistake will be filed in the state trial court where the alleged error occurred. However, federal courts could be able to handle cases in certain circumstances. For instance, a case could be filed in federal court in the event of a dispute over the time limit or when there is a significant difference in citizenship among the parties in the case. Certain claims are settled through arbitration that is binding and voluntary. This is a less formal process involving professional decision makers that is designed to reduce costs, speed up legal proceedings, and eliminate the risk of overly generous juries. Arbitration is not always available in cases of malpractice.

Dosage of a drug that is incorrect

Medication errors, also known as medication mistakes, are one of the main causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. These errors can be caused by a doctor who has submitted a prescription in the wrong format, or giving the patient the incorrect dosage. These errors are often preventable. Based on the circumstances the hospital staff member, a pharmacist or other health care professionals could be held accountable for the injuries of patients who were given the wrong drug dosage.

A doctor may prescribe the incorrect medication to a patient as a result of an incorrect diagnosis or simply by misreading the prescription. A health care provider can also give the wrong dosage due to a lapse in communication. For example nurses may take a doctor's prescription and read it incorrectly or a pharmacist could fail to fill the prescription. In other instances the doctor may delay the administration of the correct medication, which can lead to the patient's condition worsening.

A plaintiff must prove in order to win a malpractice lawsuit that the medical professional breached their professional standards and that their injuries were directly attributed to the negligence. This requires medical experts to be able to testify. Medical malpractice cases also must establish the extent and the damages caused by the victim's injuries. This includes the costs of a person's treatment and any wages lost. The greater the loss of the claim, the greater the value of the claim.

The wrong procedure

This kind of situation is not unusual. It may seem like a challenge for medical professionals to perform the incorrect procedure on patients however, it is a reality. The surgeon who makes this error could be held liable for negligence. If a patient is injured because of an error during surgery may be held responsible for any negligence that occurred during the procedure.

Any health professional who is accused of malpractice must prove that the patient was harmed due to a specific act or failure to act. To prove this the legal team representing the patient must show that: (1) the doctor was under the obligation to provide medical care or treatment; (2) that the doctor breached this duty; (3) that there is a direct causal relationship 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 duty of care has no meaning unless it result in injury. This is the reason why medical malpractice cases are often built on the legal principle "res ipsa locquitur," which states that certain injuries are so obvious they can only be explained through negligence.

Depending on the circumstances, the plaintiff (the person who filed the claim or their legal representative) or their attorney may decide to file the claim either in state or federal court. Most malpractice cases are filed in state courts, however in certain circumstances medical malpractice lawsuits could be filed in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

The procedure that is performed on the wrong site is not common however, it could be a case of medical malpractice when the procedure is done in the wrong area of your body. This kind of error is usually the result of miscommunications between members of the surgical team, or due to pressures in the production process that result in the surgeon performing multiple surgeries at once. In these situations the surgeon isn't solely responsible for a wrong-site procedure because of a legal rule known as "res ipsa locquitur" which says that the result speaks for itself and cannot be blamed on negligence.

If someone is injured during an incorrect procedure and is injured, they may require additional procedures to fix problems that were made worse by the mistake. This could result in expensive medical expenses for patients and their families. These costs should be considered when calculating the financial impact of medical malpractice claims.

The majority of times surgeons are accountable for surgical mistakes. They are responsible in preparing the patient for the procedure, checking the medical record and chart of the patient, communicating with the medical personnel, and ensuring that the incision was made at the correct location. However, in some cases an anesthesiologist or hospital may also be held responsible. Medical malpractice claims are typically filed in state courts, but may be transferred in certain circumstances to federal court.