Medical Malpractice Litigation

Medical malpractice litigation can be lengthy and complicated. Both defendants and plaintiffs are also required to pay a substantial price.

In order to receive the financial compensation sought in a malpractice lawsuit, the injured patient must prove that negligent medical care resulted in injury. This involves establishing four legal elements such as a professional obligation, breach of duty inflicting injury, and the resulting damages.

Discovery

The most important part of a case involving medical negligence is the gathering of evidence. This can be accomplished via written interrogatories, or requests for documents. Interrogatories consist of questions that the opposing side must answer under oath, and are used to establish the facts that will be presented at trial. Requests for documents can be used to obtain tangible items, like medical records and test results.

In many cases, your attorney will be able to take the defendant's deposition that is a recorded question and answer session. This allows your attorney to ask the witness or doctor questions that would not have been permitted during trial. It can be extremely beneficial in cases that involve experts as witnesses.

The information you gather during pretrial discovery is used in trial to prove the following elements of your claim:

Breach of the standard of care

Injury caused by the breach of the standard of care

Proximate causation

A doctor's failure to use the level of expertise and knowledge held by doctors in their area of specialization and that resulted in injury to the patient

Mediation

Medical malpractice trials are necessary but they also have many drawbacks. For plaintiffs the pressure, cost and the time commitment associated with a trial can have a negative psychological impact on them. A trial can result in embarrassment and a loss of status for health professionals who are defendants. It could also have adverse effects on their career and practice since the financial settlements made in a pre-trial settlement are usually reported to national databanks for practitioners and state medical licensing boards, and medical societies.

Mediation is the most cost-effective, time-efficient and risk-effective method of resolving the medical malpractice case. Parties are able to negotiate more freely as they are not burdened by the expense of a trial, as well as the possibility of juror verdicts to be eroded.

Each side must submit an overview of the case to the mediator prior mediation (a "mediation brief"). Parties will usually allow their communication to go through their lawyer instead of directly between themselves at this stage because direct communications could be used against them later on in court. As the mediation process progresses it is a good idea for you to focus on your case's strengths, and be prepared to recognize its weaknesses. This will enable the mediator to make sense of any gaps and make a reasonable offer.

Trial

Reformers of the tort system are seeking to create an insurance system that compensates people who are injured due to negligence of a physician quickly and with minimal expense. Although this is a difficult task, many states have implemented tort reform measures in order to lower the cost of medical malpractice claims.

Most physicians in the United States have malpractice insurance as a way of safeguarding themselves from accusations of professional negligence. Some of these policies are required to be carried out as a condition of hospital privileges or work within a medical company.

In order to receive an amount of money for injuries sustained by the negligence of a medical professional the injured patient must prove that the doctor did not adhere to the standards of care applicable in the field of expertise they practice. This concept is known as proximate cause and is an important part of a medical malpractice lawsuit.

A lawsuit begins by filing a civil summons or complaint with the appropriate court. After that, both parties must engage in a disclosure process. This can include written interrogatories and the production of documents, like medical records. Depositions (in which attorneys challenge deponents under an oath), and requests for admission are also involved.

The burden of proving the case of medical malpractice is extremely high. The damages awarded are calculated based on both actual economic loss like lost income and the costs of future medical treatment and noneconomic losses such as pain and suffering. It is essential to work with an experienced lawyer when you are trying to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.

Settlement

Settlements are the most commonly used method of settling 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 victim receives an amount of money, which is paid to the plaintiff lawyer, who then deposits it into an escrow account. The lawyer deducts legal costs and case expenses in accordance with the representation agreement and then provides the injured victims with compensation.

To prevail in a medical negligence case, the aggrieved patient has to demonstrate that a doctor or other healthcare professional had a duty to care, and then violated that duty by failing to use the appropriate degree of expertise and knowledge in their field, that in the proximate consequence of the breach, the victim suffered injury, and that such injuries are quantifiable in terms of financial loss.

In the United States, there are 94 federal district court systems, which are equivalent to state trial courts. Each of these courts has an ad-hoc jury and judge panel which hears cases. In certain circumstances the case of medical malpractice could be transferred to one of these courts. In the United States, physicians carry medical malpractice insurance to safeguard themselves from claims of injury that was not intended. Medical professionals should be aware of the structure and function of our legal system to ensure that they can react in a timely manner to claims made against them.