Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice means professional negligence through act or omission done by a health care giver wherein the care provided diverges from acceptable standards of medical practice and causes harm or death to a patient. Regulations and standards for medical malpractice differ by country and jurisdictions within countries. Medical professionals need to maintain professional liability insurances to compensate the risk and charge of lawsuits due to medical malpractice.

A physician must be legally responsible in things like prescribing drugs for experiment and doing cosmetic surgery.

Medical malpractice claim

The plaintiff is the patient, or a designated party legally acting instead of the plaintiff or - in the case of wrongful-death suit- the perpetrator or administrator of an estate of the deceased patient liability or direct corporate carelessness, claims can be brought also against clinics, hospitals and medical corporations or managed care institutions for the wrong doings of their employees.

Elements of the case

A claimant must establish the four elements of the tort of carelessness or negligence for the success of the claim of medical malpractice.

1. The function was owed: a legal function exists whenever a health or hospital provider assumes the care or treatment of a patient.
2. A function was broken: the provider was not able to conform to relevant standards of care. The standards of care is proven by expert testimonies or by simple errors
3. The violation caused harm: The breach of function was the immediate cause of harm.
4. Damages: Without damages ( losses which might be emotional or financial), there is no ground for claims, despite of whether the health provider was negligent. Likewise, damages can happen without negligence, for example, if someone dies due to fatal disease.

The trial

Like any other cases, the claimant or their lawyer files a court case with suitable jurisdiction. Between suit filing and trial, the parties involved are required in sharing information by discovering. The information includes interrogatories, requests for papers and depositions. If the two parties agree, the case can be settled before trial on negotiated conditions. If they cannot agree, the case will continue to trial.

The claimant has the weight of proof to prove the elements by predominance of evidence. At trial, the two parties will generally present skilled witnesses to testify as to standards are required and other practical issues.

The judge or jury must weigh all evidences and decide which is the most believable.

The judge will give a verdict to the prevailing party. If the claimant succeeds, the judge will assess reparations within the limits of the instruction of the judge. The verdict abridged to the judgment of the court. The losing group can move to a new trial. In few jurisdictions, a claimant who is not satisfied by small decision may move for additur. In most jurisdictions, a defendant who is not satisfied with large decision can move for remittitur. Either side can make an appeal from the verdict.

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