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Medical MalpracticeWhen a Doctor’s Mistake Turns Into TragedyThousands upon thousands of medical malpractice cases are filed against medical professionals every year. But, doctors are only human, they make mistakes, right? How can you know if the mistake your doctor may have made is considered medical malpractice? What determines whether or not a lawyer will accept a case of medical malpractice? Basically, medical malpractice is when a medical professional who is expected to behave at a certain level or standard of conduct fails to do so and ultimately causes real damage. It is not always easy to prove misconduct. Usually experts in the same field will need to testify that the doctor did not act properly based on his training or the decision or conclusion he/she reached in the patient’s case was inappropriate or negligent. Examples of this include a patient that suffered from cancer, but the doctor failed to diagnose the disease. The cancer spread and the patient died. Another example concerns a patient that ingested insecticide. The doctor incorrectly diagnosed his condition, and failed to administer the proper antidote. The outcome was permanent brain damage. Medical Malpractice LawsuitsIn order to be eligible for compensation from a medical malpractice suit, you must prove that real damage or injury took place as a direct result of the medical professional’s actions or lack of actions. An incorrect diagnosis resulting in a few days delay in recovery does not meet that criteria. No real injury exists. Before an attorney will accept your case of malpractice, he will consider whether or not the hoped for compensation will be enough to warrant the time spent on the case, as well as the out-of-pocket money that he will spend to fight your case will be worth it. Your attorney is likely to spend as much as $50,000 to $100,000 to adequately represent your claim. If he believes that your case will only bring about $25,000, then he probably won’t accept the case. He must also make a reasonable effort to make sure that your case has merit and basis to file a claim. In some states, if the judge decides later that he did not do this, he may impose certain sanctions upon your attorney, like paying for the opposing side’s fees. Malpractice Statute of LimitationsThere is also the statute of limitations to consider. This means that you have a certain amount of time, and this varies by state, to make your claim of malpractice. Usually it is between two and four years after the injury. The state you live in may also have recently instituted a cap on compensation received from lawsuits. In the states that have these, the average cap is $250,000.
Informed Consent in Malpractice CasesIn some cases, attorneys for the doctors have tried to imply that no guilt existed with the doctor, because the patient signed an informed consent. This is when a doctor explains that a medical procedure is risky and then he will have the patient give consent to perform it. On the other hand, some patients have filed a medical malpractice suit stating that the doctor failed to obtain an informed consent. In both cases, problems exist with these arguments. In the first case, a signed consent does not in itself prove that the doctor gave a thorough explanation of all the risks involved. Sometimes, nurses are asked to obtain the signatures for this form. In the second case, the law in certain states provides that even if a jury were to conclude that the doctor didn’t give the patient enough information to make an informed decision, the jury should still decide in favor of the doctor. This is based on the belief by the jury that the patient would have consented anyway if he had been given the information. So, medical malpractice cases should never be fought on the basis of the lack of informed consent alone. The following links provide additional information on medical malpractice. Directory Of Lawyer Disciplinary Agencies National Practitioner Data Bank
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