The 10 Scariest Things About Malpractice Law

How to File a Medical Malpractice Case

Medical malpractice cases can be difficult. A knowledgeable attorney can help you understand your legal rights and navigate this complex procedure.

You must prove that the doctor or other healthcare professional did not fulfill their duty of care towards you to bring a malpractice attorney lawsuit. This breach led to an adverse legal outcome for you, such as an unfavorable medical outcome or financial loss.

Birth defects

The excitement of parents when they witness the birth of their child is unmatched. Unfortunately, it's also a moment when medical issues can arise. These may include issues related to birth defects, including lips that are missing or cleft, or malpractice congenital heart diseases and muscular dystrophy. If negligence of a doctor during pregnancy or birth caused these conditions, you may have a valid malpractice claim.

Birth defects can result from many reasons, including exposure to prescription medications or toxic chemicals, environmental factors and prenatal care issues. The physician's responsibility to ensure the well-being and wellbeing of the mother and fetus involves performing the appropriate screening tests, detecting and treating abnormalities during pregnancy and conducting appropriate screening tests.

Medical experts must determine if the negligence of a doctor caused serious injury or death due to not diagnosing or treating the condition. To establish negligence, a medical professional must examine the standard of medical care that a doctor would have adhered too under similar circumstances. The expert is then required to show that the doctor strayed from this standard and caused the injury or death.

It is crucial to speak to any witnesses and gather evidence at the site of the accident. This includes hospital witnesses, other patients, their families nurses, and others. Additionally, you must capture photos of the injuries that your child received to show how severe they were.

Maternal deaths

Every year, 700-900 women die due to complications during pregnancy or childbirth. This is an alarming number especially for a first-world country like the United States. A recent study by USA Today suggests many of these deaths could have been avoided by better care at hospitals.

The main causes of maternal death are obstetric emergency, such as severe blood loss during delivery or hemorrhage afterward, and pre-existing illnesses like diabetes and obesity, which affect childbirth and pregnancy. However doctors also have a duty to observe and treat warning signs, including high blood pressure, which can cause the dangerous condition known as preeclampsia. Preeclampsia can cause premature separation of the placenta, seizures and the life-threatening condition called HELLP syndrome.

In the United States, medical malpractice claims involving gynecology or obstetrics is one of the most popular kinds of lawsuits. In a malpractice claim the plaintiff has to prove that a healthcare provider breached an accepted standard of care, causing the plaintiff to be injured or die. The standards of care are defined by the legal community and differs from state to state. Despite the high number of malpractice cases, the majority of them are settled without ever going to trial. Settlements are often reached through direct negotiations between the parties, and sometimes with the help of a neutral mediator (often a retired judge or attorney). Medical malpractice lawyer suits are not able to take a doctor off the market immediately.

Injuries as a result of surgery

While medical advances have drastically reduced the likelihood of adverse outcomes, they can still occur. If they do, they typically cause serious injuries. In addition to being uncomfortable and painful these injuries could cause costly corrective surgery, excessive medical expenses in the long run, a lengthy recovery time or even death.

Every surgical error is not malpractice, however. In order for a case to be successful, it must be proven that a healthcare professional failed to adhere to the standard of care during the procedure and this failure directly led to injury. Injuries that can be considered medical malpractice are:

Wrong-site surgeries, where the surgeon performs surgery on a body part different than what was planned leaving a sponge scalpel, or other item inside a patient, puncturing or nicking a nerve or organ, causing infections because of inadequately cleaned and sanitized equipment, etc.

A lawsuit based on a surgical error is a complex issue therefore, you must seek the advice of an experienced attorney who is familiar with medical malpractice. It's also important to document any injuries you experience by taking photos of the incident, and make notes of any information you believe might be relevant to your case. It can take years for a lawsuit over a surgical error to be resolved however it's well worth it if you've been injured by your doctor's mistake. This is particularly relevant if your injuries are severe and have a significant impact on your living quality.

Wrongful death

The loss of a loved one can be extremely stressful, but if the death is caused by someone else's negligence the experience can be extremely painful. According to state law, you may be able to bring a lawsuit against the other party to recover damages.

A wrongful death differs from a medical malpractice claim because it is a matter of the life of a person more than their health. The the standard of proof is higher. It must be proven beyond reasonable doubt that the death of your loved one was the result of negligence on the part another person.

The husband of Joan's mother, for instance, died of a lung cancer that was not seen by an x-ray. The doctor who did not examine his patient's symptoms or run an MRI after the patient complained of breathing difficulties was responsible for his death. The delay in treatment caused the tumor to grow irreparably.

In this situation, the patient's family could make a claim for wrongful death against the doctor and hospital. The kind of damages you can claim is contingent on the laws in your state, similar to a medical malpractice case. They could include economic and non-economic damages like funeral costs or loss of consortium and discomfort and pain prior to the death of the victim. These claims can also include punitive damages. This amount isn't covered in every case, but it's available if the victim died as a result multiple mistakes or was a particularly grave death.