Medical malpractice happens if a doctor or other medical staff harms a patient due to being negligent or not fully performing their duties. Medical malpractice consists of many rules such as, when are you supposed to bring your claim, and when are you supposed to notify the MD of such claim. These rules are different from state to state, but the basics apply to mostly every malpractice case.
Below will be described the rules and general overview
of medical malpractices.
What
is Required to File a Claim
In order to prove that a medical malpractice indeed
occurred, a patient must prove these four things:
1) The doctor and patient did have a
relationship: The patient is required to show that there
was a relationship between the two. That the patient contracted the doctor and
the doctor agreed to be their doctor. You cannot sue an MD that did not
directly assist you.
2) The doctor did show negligence: The
patients results may not be what they were expecting, but it doesn’t always
mean that there was negligence from the medical professional’s part. There has
to be a connection with the patient’s injury and a negligence on behalf of the
doctor. The patient must express how the harm that was caused would not have
happened if another skillful doctor were to have cared for the patient. There
would have to be a medical expert that would determine what the medical
standard of care should have been, and how the doctor did not follow it.
3)
The
negligence did lead to the injury: It is sometimes difficult
for the patient to prove that the doctor’s negligence was what led to the
injury because the patient is already either ill or injured to being with. An example would be a cancer patient
that dies during treatment because of the doctor’s recklessness. In this case,
it would be difficult to show that it was in fact in doctor’s recklessness and
not the cancer that killed the patient. A medical experts’ testimony is usually
required to prove this.
4) The injury was what led to definite
damages: If the patient did not endure any harms, no
malpractice claim can be filed regardless of the doctor not having performed to
standards. These are some harms that can be done to a patient:
·
Mental and emotional torture
·
Loss of wages
·
Future expenses
·
Physical injuries
Recurrent
Medical Malpractices
There are many instances where a medical professional
can perform a medical error. From not advising the side effects of a medication
to leaving behind a foreign object in someone after a surgery. They typically
fall under:
Not
diagnosing at all: Sometimes the doctor may say that the patient
did not have any illness, when in fact they did. This can be a cause for a
malpractice claim when the patient suffers harms because of it.
Not
correctly diagnosing: The doctor could provide a treatment
that another skillful doctor would not have. This treatment can result in a
harm to the patient.
Not
warning of potential risks: It is a medical professionals duty
to state all the risks that a procedure or any treatment can cause. If the
patient was never warned, they can have a lawsuit for medical malpractice.
Medical
Malpractice Special Requirements
Each state has their steps to follow with malpractice
cases. You must be aware and follow these rules accordingly.
Promptly
reporting the case: Depending on the state where it happened,
most malpractice claims have a time frame between six months and two years to
report it. If you fail to file within that time frame, your case will be
dismissed.
Submitting
through a review panel: It is required in some states that
the patient submit their claim to the review panel that will hear all the case
and its evidence and determine whether there was a malpractice or not. Their decision does not define if a
lawsuit is actually present, it is just a stage that some states require the
patient to go through.
Providing
notice: Giving notice about the pending lawsuit to the doctor
is required in some states.
Experts
need to testify: The testimony of an expert is usually
required for a malpractice lawsuit. They will need to be present at trial and
provide their professional expertise on whether the claim is viable, or was not
means for a malpractice claim.
Limit
for compensation: In most states, there is a limit to how
much money the patient can be granted for the claim.
Seek
Our Help
The medical professionals mistake may have caused you
to endure further pain, or may have caused the loss of a loved one. Medical
malpractice claims are not easy to prove, but with one of our Miami personal injury attorneys in Miami can help, we
can battle for the full award for your damages. Don’t take too long in filing
your claim. We are all ears and take action: (305)529-0001.
