How to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

Many medical malpractice cases require a lot of time and resources from both doctors and attorneys. This includes doctor hours and work product and attorney time, court costs as well as expert witness fees and countless other expenses.

An injury resulting from a healthcare professional's negligence, misconduct, error or omission could result in medical malpractice claims. The injured party can seek compensation for economic losses, such as past or future medical expenses and also non-economic damages, such as discomfort and pain.

Complaint

A medical malpractice suit has many moving parts, and requires evidence that is credible evidence to succeed. The injured patient (or their attorney if they've died) must prove each of the following legal aspects of the case:

The defendant breached the duty. The defendant did not meet this obligation. The breach directly caused injury for the plaintiff. This element is known as "cause". A breach of a duty of care cannot necessarily cause injury. It must be shown that it caused the injury directly and was the main reason for the injury.

In order to protect a patient's rights, and to ensure that a doctor does not commit further errors, it is required to file a complaint with the state Geneva medical malpractice lawsuit board. But, filing a report does not start an action, and is often just a step towards getting the malpractice case moving. It is recommended to talk with an Syracuse malpractice lawyer prior to filing any report or document.

Summons

A summons or claim is filed in court and sent to the doctor who is defendant as part of the legal procedure. A court-appointed lawyer for the plaintiff will then review these documents and, if they believe that there is an issue with malpractice, they will file an affidavit and complaint with the court, describing the donora medical malpractice attorney error that they believe to have committed.

The next step in the legal process is to obtain evidence through pretrial discovery. This involves submitting requests to document such as hospital billing information and clinic notes and taking the defendant physician's deposition, where attorneys question the defendant about his or their knowledge of the matter under an oath.

The information provided will be used by the lawyer for the plaintiff to prove elements of a claim for medical negligence at trial. The elements of a medical malpractice claim include the existence of a duty on the part of the physician to provide care and treatments to patients, the physician's failure to fulfill this duty and a causal link between the breach and the injury or death of the patient and an amount of damages sufficient to warrant a monetary award.

Discovery

During the process of discovery each side is entitled to seek and receive evidence pertinent to the case. This includes medical records from prior to and after an incident of alleged negligence, information about experts and tax returns or other documentation relating to out-of-pocket expenses that the plaintiff claims have been incurred, and the names and contact information of wi medical malpractice claim.

Trial

Your lawyer will make a complaint to the court, along with a summons. This begins a legal process of disclosure, also known as discovery, where you and your doctor's team work together to gather information to prove your case. This usually includes medical records and testimony from experts.

The goal of proving malpractice is to prove that your doctor's actions were not in line with the standard of care. Your lawyer must convince jurors that it is more likely than not your injuries wouldn't have occurred if your doctor acted according to the standards of care. The lawyers for your doctor will present arguments that are contrary to the evidence presented by your attorney.

Despite the belief that doctors are the target of false claims of malpractice, decades of empirical evidence shows that juries make reasonable assessment of the severity of the damage and negligence and that juries tend to be skeptical of large amounts of money awarded. The vast majority malpractice cases are settled prior to trial.