Medical malpractice occurs when medical treatment falls below expected standards. If a patient is injured as a result of medical malpractice, that patient can file a lawsuit alleging medical malpractice. If a patient dies, the family could file a wrongful death lawsuit.
The most common type of medical malpractice involves surgery, but it can occur with any nurse, doctor, medical technician, or medical facility. The different types of medical malpractice are almost endless. Here are some examples:
Damage to a neighboring organ during surgery.
An incorrect diagnosis leading to either no treatment for the condition or incorrect treatment for the condition.
A doctor telling a patient that they are fine, causing a delay in treatment that eventually leads to injury. This especially refers to whether a disease is progressive, such as cancer.
A dentist whose negligent treatment causes the patient to lose teeth.
An incorrect drug or prescription of a drug in a harmful dose. This may be negligence on the part of a prescribing physician, a nurse administering the medication, or a pharmacist.
Unnecessary surgery resulting, for example, in the inability of the patient to have children.
A failed cosmetic procedure that causes an injury or a very unpleasant result.
A medical instrument that was accidentally left inside a patient during surgery.
Errors in the medical record that result in incorrect medical procedures or medications.
Inadequate or ineffective anesthesia administered before surgery.
A mistake made during delivery that results in the death of the baby or permanent injury to the baby, such as brain damage. Cerebral palsy is often the result of this type of medical negligence.
The difficulty of “causality”
In order for a patient to have a medical malpractice claim, he or she has to prove (1) that medical professionals had a duty to provide a standard of care and did not, (2) that the patient suffered an injury. or injuries, and (3) that the injury was caused by alleged medical negligence.
What does “standard of care” mean? It varies from state to state. Some laws restrict the standard to physicians in the same area of the country, while others extend the standard to physicians nationwide. For example, a cardiac surgeon will keep up with other surgeons in the same field. If he or she acted in a way that differs from the way that most cardiac surgeons would have acted in similar circumstances, that surgeon may be found to be medically negligent.
Since the body consists of interconnected systems, “causation” is a complicated subject in medical malpractice. Medical staff could argue that the treatment did not cause the injury, but was caused by a condition the patient already had.
Psychologists and psychiatrists can also be sued for medical malpractice, although these types of cases are much more difficult to prove because they are not only non-physical injuries, but the causation is particularly complex.
In either type of case, the attorneys assigned by the insurance company for medical malpractice will likely attempt to argue that the injury was not caused by medical malpractice.
For this reason, injured people are encouraged to hire an attorney to help them negotiate a settlement to recover the costs they incurred. Attorneys in this situation work on a “contingency” basis, which means that they do not require the client to pay them. Your fees are contingent on receiving the settlement money from the medical malpractice insurance company. If the attorney is successful in obtaining a settlement for the client, then he takes a percentage of the money as a fee. If the lawyer is not successful, he does not earn money from the job. As a result, attorneys work hard to secure settlements for their clients.
In some states, the settlement may include funds for pain and suffering, which is not a reimbursement of costs, but rather a payment for the emotional stress experienced by the injury. Some states also allow “punitive damages” for gross negligence or misconduct. The amount allowed for such damages is often restricted. In the state of California, for example, no more than $ 250,000 can be awarded in non-economic damages.
When it comes to gross negligence or misconduct, local authorities can also initiate criminal action against the doctor or medical facility. This action is independent of a medical malpractice case. In a criminal action, the plaintiff is the city or the state. A medical malpractice lawsuit is called a “civil” action, and the plaintiff in that case is the injured patient. However, both the criminal and civil cases would have one or more defendants in common. The defendant is the person defending the claim – the party or parties that are allegedly medically negligent.
Note that only in cases of gross negligence does the health department withdraw a doctor’s medical license.
Do all medical malpractice cases go to trial?
Most of these cases are resolved out of court, but when the parties cannot agree on the amount of the settlement, the case goes to trial. Then a judge or jury makes the decision as to whether and how much the patient is entitled to receive money. However, before a case goes to trial, years of negotiations can pass. During that period, attorneys for both parties prepare legal documents that answer the other party’s questions. These are called “pretrial discovery” documents.
Often depositions are also taken from the parties. These are interviews that allow attorneys on the opposite side to ask questions.
It is not unusual for an agreement to be reached in court during the jury selection process. This is a tactic that pushes both sides against the wall, trying to force them to give in. The plaintiff wants the defendant to back down by offering more money in the settlement, while the defendant wants the plaintiff to back down by accepting the current settlement offer. Nobody wants to take a case to trial if it can be avoided because court costs are much higher than out-of-court settlements.
However, if the defendant’s attorney believes that money can be saved by rejecting a high settlement demand, a trial is likely to be held.