Medical malpractice occurs when a hospital, doctor or other health care professional, through a negligent act or omission, causes an injury to a patient. The negligence might be the result of errors in diagnosis, treatment, after care or health management. The tort of medical malpractice is generally defined in law as a form of professional negligence in which a patient suffers harm because a health care provider violated accepted standards of medical practice. Medical malpractice cases always require a medical expert or a team of medical experts to prove liability. We have a team of doctors graduated from top universities from the various specialties. Our doctors perform level-headed review of the medical records and provide unbiased expert opinion that would be difficult to discredit. Our doctors’ opinion is based on the prevailing standard treatment protocol that is followed in the United States health care system. The medical opinions are prepared by cross referencing the medical records highlighting the significant data that proves the negligence. Medical opinions are accompanied with supporting citations and references. Medical malpractice cases frequently involve disputes over specialized issues beyond the knowledge of the average layperson. As a result, they often involve an expert witness who provides the jury with information about medical science and practice.
To be considered medical malpractice under the law, the claim must have the following characteristics:
A violation of the standard of care - A patient has the right to expect that health care professionals will deliver care that is consistent with these standards. If it is determined that the standard of care has not been met, then negligence may be established.
An injury was caused by the negligence - For a medical malpractice claim to be valid, it is not sufficient that a health care professional simply violated the standard of care. The patient must also prove he or she sustained an injury that would not have occurred in the absence of negligence. An unfavorable outcome by itself is not malpractice. The patient must prove that the negligence caused the injury. If there is an injury without negligence or negligence that did not cause an injury, there is no case.
The injury resulted in significant damages - For a case to be viable, the patient must show that significant damages resulted from an injury received due to the medical negligence. If the damages are small, the cost of pursuing the case might be greater than the eventual recovery. To pursue a medical malpractice claim, the patient must show that the injury resulted in disability, loss of income, unusual pain, suffering and hardship, or significant past and future medical bills.
Examples of medical malpractice claims:
Failure to diagnose or misdiagnosis
Misreading or ignoring laboratory results
Unnecessary surgery
Surgical errors or wrong site surgery
Improper medication or dosage
Poor follow-up or aftercare
Premature discharge
Disregarding or not taking appropriate patient history
Failure to order proper testing
Failure to recognize symptoms
Missed or delayed diagnoses are major causes of malpractice complaints. When a doctor misdiagnoses a condition or, alternately, fails to diagnose a condition for some period of time, the patient could miss treatment opportunities that might have presented serious harm or death. Indeed, a misdiagnosis could lead to the prescription of treatments that are not appropriate for the patient, also potentially resulting in harm. The key to such a case is showing what the treating doctor did wrong and how a competent doctor should have gone about diagnosing the condition. If a reasonably skillful and competent doctor would not have made the same mistake under the same circumstances, then the treating doctor may be liable for malpractice.
A number of injuries can be caused by medical malpractice to a fetus during pregnancy or to a child during the birth process. Some of these injuries can be quite severe, such as brain injuries (like cerebral palsy and seizure disorders), fractured bones, and full or partial paralysis. Of course, many of these are caused by natural causes, as well. Nevertheless, if a doctor's negligence caused these conditions or the doctor failed to take steps to treat a condition that could lead to these conditions, medical malpractice may have occurred.
Medication errors are one of the most common forms of medical malpractice and can occur many ways. For example, a doctor might make a mistake on the initial prescription, administer a drug inappropriately, or fail to take notice of a potentially harmful drug interaction. In a hospital setting, one common form of injury results from the wrong medication being given to the wrong patient. However, the most common medication errors, by far, involve improper dosage.
Anesthesia mistakes are relatively infrequent, but can be more dangerous than surgery mistakes. Even small error by the anesthesiologist can result in permanent injury, brain damage, or death. Typical causes of malpractice by anesthesiologists include failing to investigate the patient's medical history for possible complications, or failing to inform the patient of necessary preoperative procedures (like not eating for a certain period before surgery). Other common anesthesia errors include giving too much anesthesia to the patient, failing to monitor the patient's vital signs, improperly putting a tube in the trachea to assist the patient with breathing (“intubation”), or using defective equipment.
make negligent errors during the surgery itself, like puncturing an organ or blood vessel, operating on the wrong body part, or leaving surgical equipment inside the body. Alternatively, nursing staff could be negligent in postoperative care, resulting in giving the wrong medications, using improper procedures that could lead to infection, or failing to give the patient adequate instructions for their own postoperative recovery needs.
Expert witnesses are usually required to establish the standard of care, to establish that the defendant breached the standard of care. Other expert testimony may be required to establish that the medical malpractice was the cause of the plaintiff's injuries. Other experts may be required to establish the damages, such as lost future earnings, future medical expenses, and future pain and suffering.
Ordinarily, a medical malpractice case must be brought within three years of the date of the injury. There are some exceptions which make this time longer, and other exceptions which make the time shorter.
If the malpractice is not known or reasonably knowable, then the action does not accrue until the plaintiff becomes aware of the injury or the malpractice. This is known as the "discovery rule." At that point the three year limitation begins to run.
There is a modified statute of limitations for children under the age of six. The statute may be up to six years, but for a minor under the age of six, the suit still must be brought by his or her ninth birthday.
We help the medical malpractice attorneys in establishing the causation, negligence, and injuries resulted. Best medical malpractice summaries include the case focus period of medical records review in detail. Thereby, we help Top medical malpractice attorneys in medical malpractice. We prepare customized medical chronology reports to support the medical malpractice attorneys. We receive the medical records from medical records retrieval for law firms and medical record retrieval for attorneys.
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