Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

Malpractice litigation involves a complex process. The degree to which an error is malpractice based on the ability of the patient to establish four legal elements: a professional duty and breach of this duty; harm due to the breach and quantifiable damages.

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

Incorrect diagnosis and inability to diagnose

Inability to recognize an illness or injury accurately can cause serious complications, or even death. A large number of medical malpractice cases involve mistakes in diagnosis. To prove negligence the patient or their attorney must demonstrate that a competent doctor in similar circumstances and in the same area would not have missed the diagnosis.

It is not always a case of malpractice, however. Even highly-trained and experienced doctors can make mistakes. Therefore, a claim of malpractice must be supported with other elements, such as breach, proximate reason and actual injury. For instance If a doctor fails to properly sterilize their equipment before administering anesthesia to a patient and they develop an infection as a result, the doctor could be found to be negligent.

In the majority of instances, lawsuits claiming that there was a mistake will be filed in the state trial court where the alleged malpractice took place. Federal courts could be able to handle the case in certain instances. For instance, a lawsuit may be brought in federal court in the event of a dispute over a statute of limitations or if there is a substantial variation in the citizenship of those involved in the dispute. Certain claims are settled through arbitration that is binding and voluntary. This is a non-formal procedure which involves professionals who make the decisions. It is designed to cut costs, speed up legal proceedings, and eliminate the risk associated with overly large juries. Arbitration is not available in all cases of malpractice.

Dosage of a drug that is incorrect

Medication errors, also referred to as medication errors, are one of the leading causes of medical Riverdale Malpractice lawyer lawsuits. They can be caused by a physician prescribing a prescription in error or delivering the wrong dose to patients. These mistakes are usually avoidable. Based on the circumstances, a hospital or its staff, a pharmacist or other health care provider could be held responsible for the harms suffered by a patient who was prescribed the wrong dosage of medication.

A doctor might prescribe the wrong medication to a patient because of an incorrect diagnosis or simply because he/she misreads the prescription. A health professional may also administer the wrong dose due to an inability to communicate like when a nurse reads a doctor's handwritten script incorrectly or the pharmacist makes an error in filling out the prescription. In other instances the doctor may delay in administering the correct medication to the patient, resulting in their condition deteriorating.

A person seeking compensation must prove, in order to prevail on a malpractice lawsuit, that the medical professional breached their standards of practice and thawever under limited circumstances, a medical malpractice case can be brought in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

The wrong-site procedure is rare, but can be considered medical malpractice in the event that the procedure is carried out in the wrong part of your body. This kind of error is often caused by miscommunication between members of a surgical team, or production pressure that results in an individual surgeon being assigned multiple surgeries at the same time. In these situations the surgeon is not solely responsible for an incorrect-site operation due to the legal principle of "res ipsa locquitur" which says that the result is a matter of fact and cannot be blamed on negligence.

If the patient is injured during a wrong-site procedure, he or her may require additional procedures to rectify problems that were aggravated due to the error. Patients and their family members are left with hefty medical bills. These expenses should be considered when calculating the financial consequences of medical malpractice lawsuits.

The majority of times surgeons are accountable for surgical errors. They are responsible for preparing the patient for the procedure, examining the medical records and chart of the patient, coordinating with the rest of the medical personnel, and ensuring that the incision was placed in the proper location. In some instances, a hospital or anesthesiologist may also be held responsible. Medical poolesville malpractice lawyer lawsuits are typically filed in state courts, however, they can be transferred under certain circumstances to federal court.