
Medico-legal malpractice occurs when a doctor fails to adhere to a standard of care prescribed by the medical profession.
What occurs in a case of medical malpractice?
The personal injury attorneys in Scranton, PA will assist you in establishing your case if you decide to use legal means to hold your doctor accountable. Some of the typical steps in a medical malpractice case are described here. It is crucial to remember that every case is handled differently, and yours can include different processes. Research and investigation are done at the beginning of a medical malpractice case.
To do this, it will be necessary to examine any documentation supporting the negligence claim, including hospital and medical records. Your lawyer could seek the advice of additional qualified medical experts to analyse the case study and support the claim that the in question doctor was not providing the standard of care.
The pretrial discovery follows the research stage. During pre-trial discovery, the patient and the doctor meet with their respective legal teams to discuss the malpractice claims. Additionally, each side will divulge the evidence they intend to use in any prospective trial, so the other side is aware and has time to prepare a defence.
A settlement or a trial may be the next step in a medical malpractice claim.
Medical Malpractice’s Four Elements
Whether or if your interaction with your doctor constitutes malpractice may be unclear to you. Considered to be the factors required to establish the existence of medical wrongdoing are the “4 D’s” stated below.
- The phrase “duty of care” refers to the doctor’s obligation to treat their patient medically.
- When a doctor neglects to give a patient the appropriate level of care, it is referred to as dereliction or deviance.
- An injury must be proven to be caused by the doctor’s improper care to establish damages. It can be a financial loss, an emotional one, or a physical one.
- A medical decision or action taken by the doctor directly harmed the patient.
How can you respond to medical malpractice?
You can hold the doctor accountable if they committed medical malpractice and you were injured. Having legal representation can help you prepare a medical malpractice claim. Personal injury attorneys are experts at defending people who have been physically or mentally harmed due to the actions of another person or persons, including harm caused by physicians.