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Common Causes of Malpractice Litigation

The process of bringing a malpractice lawsuit is a complex procedure. If the error constitutes malpractice depends on whether the patient is able to establish four legal elements: a professional duty and breach of this duty; harm caused by the breach and damages that can be quantifiable.

Plaintiffs must demonstrate these elements with evidence such as expert testimony, depositions and discovery.

Misdiagnosis and Failure to Diagnose

A physician's inability to accurately diagnose an illness or injury can lead to grave complications, or even death. Incorrect diagnosis is a common cause of medical negligence. To prove negligence, the patient or their attorney must prove that a competent doctor in similar circumstances and in the same specialty would not have missed the diagnosis.

Misdiagnosis does not always constitute negligence. Even experienced and highly trained doctors can make mistakes. Therefore, any claim of malpractice must be backed up by other elements such as breach, proximate causes and actual injury. If a doctor fails to sterilize his equipment prior to giving anesthesia, and the patient is infected as a result of this, the doctor could be guilty.

In most cases, lawsuits alleging malpractice will be filed in the state trial court where the alleged error occurred. Federal courts may however have jurisdiction in certain circumstances. A case can be brought before a federal court in specific circumstances. For example, it may involve disputes over a statute of limitation or if the parties are of different citizenships. In other cases, certain claims are settled through voluntary binding arbitration. This is a less formal process involving professional decision makers that is intended to save costs, expedite legal proceedings and eliminate the possibility of excessively generous juries. Arbitration is not accessible in all cases of malpractice.

Dosage for a drug that is not correct

Medication mistakes, also referred to as medication errors, are among the most common causes of medical malpractice lawsuits. They can involve a physician prescribing the wrong medication or administering the wrong dosage to the patient. These errors are usually avoidable. Based on the circumstances the hospital staff member, a pharmacist or other health care provider could be held responsible for the injuries of a patient who was prescribed the wrong dosage of a drug.

A doctor may prescribe the wrong medicine because of a misdiagnosis, or simply making a mistake in the prescription. A health professional can also give the wrong dosage because of a glitch in communication. For instance the nurse might interpret a doctor's prescription incorrectly or a pharmacist may make an error when filling the prescription. In other instances the doctor could delay the administration of the correct medication, which can cause the patient's illness to getting worse.

A person seeking compensation must prove, in order to prevail on a malpractice lawsuit, that the medical professional violated their standard of practice and that their injuries were directly attributed to the negligence. This requires medical experts to be able to testify. Additionally, a medical malpractice case must prove the extent of the injuries suffered by a victim and the damages they suffered as a result of the negligence. This includes the costs of treatment for a patient and any lost wages. Generally, the greater a person's losses are then, the more valuable the claim will be.

The wrong procedure

It might seem absurd for medical professionals to perform the wrong procedure on a patient however, this kind of thing does occur. The surgeon who commits this error may be held responsible for negligence. A patient who is injured due to an error during surgery can be held responsible for any negligence that occurred during the procedure.

A medical professional accused of malpractice must demonstrate that the patient was injured because of a specific act, or failure to take action. To establish this, the patient's legal team must show that: (1) the doctor was bound by a duty to provide care or treatment; (2) that the doctor violated that duty; (3) that there is a direct causal relationship between the breach and the injury and (4) that the injury causes damages which the legal system has the power to address.

A breach of the duty of care is meaningless unless it causes injury that's why medical malpractice claims are typically built on a legal concept called "res ipsa loquitur." This law states that, in many instances, certain injuries are so obvious and unmistakable that they can only be explained by negligence.

Based on the circumstances depending on the facts, the plaintiff (the person who filed the claim, or their legal representative) or their lawyer could decide to file the case in either state or federal court. The majority of malpractice cases are filed in state court, however under limited circumstances medical malpractice lawsuits can be filed in federal district court.

Wrong Surgery

Wrong-site surgery is a rare mistake, but it could be considered medical malpractice lawyers if the procedure is performed on the wrong part of the body. This type of mistake is often caused by miscommunications between members of the surgical team, or pressures in the production process that result in surgeons being assigned multiple surgeries at once. In these situations, the surgeon is not alone in his or her liability for a wrong-site surgery since there is an underlying legal principle referred to as "res ipsa loquitur" which means that the result of the error speaks for itself and cannot be traced to negligence.

When a patient is injured due to surgery performed on the wrong site, he or she may require additional procedures to fix issues that were caused by the mistake. Patients and their families are left with costly medical bills. It is important to consider these costs when calculating the financial cost of medical malpractice lawsuits.

Surgeons are typically found to be responsible for surgical mistakes because they are the individuals who are responsible for properly 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 is placed at the right place. However, in some cases an anesthesiologist or a hospital could also be accountable. Medical malpractice claims are generally filed in state court, but they may be transferred under certain circumstances to federal court.