How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

Medical malpractice cases can be complicated. An experienced attorney can guide you through this complex procedure and help you understand your rights.

In order to file a malpractice claim you must prove that your physician or another healthcare professional violated their obligation of care to you. This breach resulted in a negative legal outcome, like a medical outcome which was not in your favor or a financial loss.

Birth defects

A parent's excitement at the birth of their baby is unmatched. Unfortunately, it's also the time when medical issues could arise. These may include issues related to birth defects, such as cleft lips and missing limbs or congenital heart diseases and muscular dystrophy. If negligence by a doctor during pregnancy or delivery led to these conditions, you could be able to file a malpractice claim.

Birth defects can result from various factors, including exposure to toxic chemicals or prescription medications as well as environmental factors and problems with prenatal care. The responsibility of the doctor to ensure the well-being and health of the mother and fetus involves performing proper screening tests, detecting and treating pregnancy-related abnormalities and conducting appropriate tests for screening.

Medical experts must determine if the negligence of a doctor in diagnosis or treatment of the condition was negligent and resulted in serious injury. To prove negligence, an expert must review the standards of care a doctor would have followed in similar circumstances, and show that the doctor deviated from that standard and consequently caused the injury or death.

It is important to speak to any eyewitnesses, and also collect evidence at the site of the accident. This could include hospital witnesses or other patients, families nurses, and others. Additionally, you must take photographs of the injuries your child sustained to show how serious they were.

Maternal deaths

Every year, between 700 and 900 women die of complications during pregnancy or childbirth. This is a staggering number especially for a first-world country like the United States. A recent investigation conducted by USA Today suggests many of those deaths could have been prevented by better hospital care.

Some of the reasons for maternal deaths include obstetric emergencies like severe bleeding during birth or a hemorrhage afterward or pre-existing conditions such as obesity and diabetes that affect the childbirth process and pregnancy. However doctors also have a duty to monitor and treat warning signs, such as high blood pressure that can cause the deadly condition known as preeclampsia. Preeclampsia may cause a premature separation from the placenta and seizures. It can also trigger a life-threatening condition called HELLP Syndrome.

Medical malpractice lawsuits involving obstetrics and gynecology are among the most frequently filed lawsuits filed in the United States. In a malpractice claim, the plaintiff must prove the doctor or healthcare provider breached the accepted standard of care and that violation led to the plaintiff's injury or death. The legal community defines the standard of care, which differs from one state to the next. Despite the many malpractice cases, the majority of them are settled before trial. Settlements are often reached through direct negotiations between the parties, and occasionally with the assistance of a neutral mediator (often a retired judge or attorney). Medical malpractice suits do not take a doctor off the market quickly.

Injuries from surgery

While medical advances have drastically reduced the likelihood of adverse outcomes, they can still occur. If they do, they often result in serious injuries. These injuries aren't only uncomfortable and painful, but they can cause costly corrective surgeries, expensive medical expenses long recovery times, or even death.

Some surgical errors are not malpractice. In order for a case to be successful it must be demonstrated that medical professionals failed to follow the established standards of care during a procedure, and that the failure directly caused injuries. Medical malpractice can be defined as:

A wrong-site procedure, where the surgeon is operating on an alternative body part than intended leaving a scalpel sponge or other piece inside a patient the surgeon may nick or puncture an organ or nerve; infections caused by unclean or sanitized equipment; and many more.

A lawsuit for a surgical error can be a complicated issue and it's important to seek out the advice of an attorney who has expertise in medical malpractice. It's also important to document any injuries that you suffer, including photos, and keep a record of any information that you believe might be relevant to your claim. A lawsuit for a surgical error can take many years to resolve, but it's worth it if you believe your doctor made a error that caused you to be injured. This is particularly true in cases where you suffered severe injuries that significantly affect your quality of life.

Wrongful death

The loss of a loved ones can be extremely stressful, but when the death is caused by negligence of another and carelessness, it can be incredibly painful. Depending on state law it is possible to make a claim against the person to recover damages for your loss.

A wrongful death case is different from a medical negligence case since it is a matter of life instead of their health. The standard of proof is therefore higher. It must be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the death of your loved person was caused by negligence on the part of another person.

For instance, her husband passed away due to lung cancer that was missed on an x-ray. His death was caused by the doctor's failure to observe the symptoms of his patient and to perform an MRI when the patient was having trouble breathing. The delay in treatment caused the tumor to grow irreparably.

In this situation the family members of the patient could bring a lawsuit for an unjustified death against the hospital and doctor. The type of damages you are able to claim is determined by the laws in your state, similar to a medical negligence case. They can be categorized as both economic and non-economic losses, such as funeral expenses loss of consortium, funeral expenses and pain and suffering prior to the victim's death. The wrongful death claim can also be used to cover punitive damages. This amount isn't included in all circumstances, but it is accessible if the victim's death occurred due to multiple mishaps or suffered a particularly severe death.