Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

The legal process for defending muskegon malpractice lawyer is a complex process. If a person can prove four elements, it will determine whether or not the mistake is malpractice. These are professional obligation or breach of that duty; a loss resulting from the breach; and quantifiable damage.

Plaintiffs must prove these elements by presenting evidence such as expert testimony, depositions, and discovery.

Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose

Failure to identify an illness or injury accurately could lead to serious complications, or death. It is a typical cause of medical malpractice. To prove negligence, a person or their lawyer needs to prove that a qualified doctor in similar circumstances would not have misdiagnosed the condition.

Not every misdiagnosis is an error, but. Even the most experienced and highly trained doctors make mistakes, so an allegation of malpractice needs to be backed by other elements like breach, proximate causation, and actual injury. For example If a doctor does not properly sterilize their equipment prior to giving anesthesia and the patient suffers an infection due to the infection the doctor may be guilty of malpractice.

In most cases, lawsuits alleging malpractice will be filed in the state trial court where the malpractice was alleged to have occurred. Federal courts can be able to hear cases in certain instances. For instance, a lawsuit could be filed in federal court if it involves disputes over the time limit for filing a claim or when there is a substantial diversity of citizenship of the parties to the case. Certain disputes are settled via binding voluntary arbitration. This is a less formal procedure with professional decision makers. It is intended to cut costs, speed up legal proceedings and eliminate the risk of overly generous juries. However, arbitration isn't accessible for all allendale malpractice lawyer claims.

Wrong Drug Dosage

Medication errors--also called medication mistakes--are one of the main causes of medical elk grove malpractice law firm lawsuits. They can be the result of a doctor writing a prescription that is not correct or giving the wrong dosage to a patient. These mistakes are usually avoidable. Based on the circumstances the hospital, its staff, a pharmacist or other health professionals may be held liable for the injuries sustained by patients who were given the wrong dose of medication.

A doctor may prescribe the wrong medication as a result of a misdiagnosis or by simply failing to read the prescription. A health professional could also administer the wrong dose due to an interruption in communication for instance, when the nurse reads the doctor's handwritten prescription incorrectly or the pharmacist makes an error in filling the prescription. In other instances the doctor might delay delivering the correct medication, which could lead to the patient's condition getting worse.

To be successful in a malpractice case, the victim must demonstrate that the medical professional breached their standard of care, and that the negligence directly caused the injuries. This requires testimony from a medical expert. A medical malpractice case also must establish the extent and damage of the victim's injuries. This includes the cost of treatment as well as any lost wages. The more the loss of the claim, the greater the value of the claim.

The wrong procedure

This kind of situation is not uncommon. It might seem unattainable for medical professionals to perform the wrong procedure on patients, but it does happen. The surgeon who makes this mistake can be held liable for malpractice. Patients who are injured due to a surgical error may be held responsible for any mistakes that were made during the procedure.

A health care professional accused of malpractice has to prove that the patient was injured as a result of an action or failure to act. To prove this the legal team representing the patient must show: (1) that the doctor was obligated to treat or provide care to the patient; (2) that he breached that duty; (3) that a causal connection exists between the negligence and injury and (4) the injury results in damages which the legal system may address.

A breach of duty of care has no value unless it results in injury. This is why medical malpractice cases are usually dependent on the lawful doctrine "res ipsa locquitur," which says that certain injuries are so obvious that they can be explained only by negligence.

Based on the facts, the plaintiff (the person who filed the claim or their legal representative) or their attorney may choose to file either in state or federal court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed in state courts, however in certain situations the case of medical negligence can be brought to federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

A wrong-site procedure is a rare error, but it could be considered medical malpractice if the procedure is performed on the wrong area of the body. This kind of error is usually the result of miscommunications between members of the surgical team or pressures on production that result in the surgeon performing multiple surgeries scheduled at the same time. In these cases the surgeon isn't the only one with responsibility for a surgical error that is not performed correctly because there is an underlying legal principle referred to as "res ipsa loquitur" which means that the result of the error is evident and can only be attributed to negligence.

If an individual is injured in an improper procedure the patient may require additional procedures to rectify problems that were exacerbated by the mistake. Patients and their family members are left with hefty medical bills. It is important to take these costs into consideration when calculating the financial cost of medical malpractice claims.

Surgeons are typically held liable for surgical errors because they are the ones who are responsible for prepping for the operation by double-checking patient's chart and medical records, communicating effectively with the other members of the medical team, and making sure that the incision has been made on the correct site. In some cases an anesthesiologist or hospital could also be held accountable. Medical malpractice lawsuits are typically filed in state court, but can be transferred under certain circumstances to federal court.