What it Takes to File a Medical Malpractice Claim

Filing a medical malpractice lawsuit can be quite time consuming but if you have been a victim, it is your right to pursue a case. There's nothing more tragic than suffering physical injury or disability or dying all because of a mistake done by a doctor during your medical treatment. It's hard to accept one's situation when it is caused by a medical error.

The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reveals that each year, thousands of people die because of unnecessary surgery as well as medication and other errors in hospitals. For this reason, many health care providers such as physicians and hospitals have been sued with medical malpractice cases. In fact, President Barack Obama pointed out that the increasing cost of medical malpractice insurance for doctors is a significant factor in the rising costs of healthcare in the U.S. His administration has actually proposed a set of best practice guidelines to protect physicians from lawsuits.

Medical malpractice occurs when a physician or healthcare institution fails to apply the needed degree of care and skill in providing medical treatment to patients. When the required medical standards are not properly followed, medical malpractice also known as med mal can result. Different fields of specialization have different standards of care. The standards for a dermatologist, for example, differ from those of surgeons.

The first step in making a decision to file a med mal lawsuit is to determine whether you have been a victim or not. Although not all unfortunate incidents during medical treatment are caused by negligence on the part of the physician, patients have the right to pursue a case if they feel they were deprived of proper care. Consulting a legal professional is the right step to take to assess your situation.

When a decision is reached to file a case, the initial step is to determine the liability of medical practitioner. This is quite a challenging stage and may take some time because testimonies of experts and in depth investigations involving medical records and other important documents are required. Negligence has to be established clearly in order for a lawsuit to succeed. When a lawyer finds strong evidence, the physician or physicians involved are then given a written notification of the claims.

Filing a medical malpractice case has to be done as soon as possible. There are statutes of limitation or timeframe allowed to file a case that lawyers have to observe. Legal deadlines may vary from one state to another but usually it is between one and five years. In cases involving a minor, the deadline is extended until the person reaches the legal age.

A lawyer specializing in medical laws and other medical related issues is the best person who can assist patients contemplating on filing claims. Medical malpractice lawyers can help you determine the right legal steps to take and speed up the filing of the lawsuit in court. With their experience working with the medical law system and the hospital system, they are in a better position to advice patients on their rights and legal options.

For information on medical malpractice lawyers, visit Gallagher Law Firm, Louisiana lawyers and attorneys who specialize in personal injury, car and truck accidents, divorce, maritime law and more.

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Medical Malpractice Suits: Death By Medicine

A recent report has found that Americans are more frightened of dying at the hands of their doctor than they are of a plane crash. The overwhelming majority of those who participated in the survey said that information about malpractice suits and medical errors would be the single most deciding factor in trusting a healthcare provider. These people must have heard that medical errors cause more deaths in the United States every year than car accidents, AIDS, or breast cancer.

In fact, for the airline industry to parallel medical errors in mortality rates a 280-person jet would have to crash every day of the year. This would account for the over 100,000 people who die annually due to complications in medical care, not to mention the nearly 2 million who are maimed and disabled. This malady is called iatrogenic disease, a disease that is a direct result of medical care. What is causing this epidemic? Many agree that the cause is over-treatment. More medicine is administered than necessary, people are hospitalized unnecessarily, and doctors prescribe drugs instead of healthy lifestyle choices. This is a major problem and it shows no signs of stopping.

In the ten year period between 1983 and 1993 the incidence of death by medical error, or iatrogenic disease, jumped 260% overall and 850% among patience receiving outpatient care. These statistics could only be an indication of the true numbers, because medical error is not often recorded on death certificates. Some people blame the increased number of deaths on a greater number of prescriptions, but the number of prescriptions issued has increased less than 40% in 10 years, compared with the 260% increased death rate. Instead, some doctors blame increased usage of anesthesia, especially among those receiving outpatient care.

Medical malpractice insurance rates have been skyrocketing, causing a small crisis among doctors who must be insured in order to practice. They complain of medical malpractice lawsuits going out of control, large cities awarding record settlements, too many people filing claims. Well can you blame people for filing claims? Doctors must be held accountable for their prescriptions, and if a doctor writes you a prescription that hurts you they deserve to be taken to court! This is truly an epidemic, and it must be stopped by holding irresponsible healthcare providers responsible. One in five Americans has experienced medical errors directly or has a family member who has suffered a medical error. If you feel you have suffered unnecessarily at the hands of a doctor, seek legal council and work it out with a lawyer.

If you have more questions, contact a medical error attorney or read about other medical malpractice cases at http://www.hugesettlements.com.

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Lasik Malpractice

LASIK has been the latest addition to the solutions for visionary complications and is now being performed on a number of patients suffering from eye problems. Since the recent development in the medical department, LASIK surgery has shown no long-term side effects. Nevertheless, short-term complications occurring due to LASIK surgery are quite common, occurring in approximately 1.5 to 5 percent of the total number of patients. It is not always that the complications occur due to the doctor's fault. However, malpractice does occur. Thus, it is essential to evaluate the circumstances to determine whether the injuries have been a cause of the LASIK malpractice.

It is difficult to sustain a LASIK malpractice claim in most of the States, as the plaintiff has to relate the cause of the injuries to a LASIK malpractice. LASIK is a pretty new and innovative procedure and thus, is universally accepted to result in certain complications after the surgery. A disagreement persists over the standards of care required after the surgery and hence, the doctors are reluctant to support the LASIK malpractice claims. Additionally, while filing such a claim, the testimony of an expert witness who is aware of the required standards and can stand by the patient's claim of not being treated properly is also essential for making the case justified.

Most of the doctors are involved in the marketing of this new development and perform LASIK surgery whenever required as a result of which the rate of the surgery has increased. Therefore, it is again difficult to find an expert surgeon who would provide his knowledge and witness that might affect the image of LASIK surgery by revealing its negative sides.

The consent documents, which are signed prior to the surgery by the patients, relieve all the medical staff, surgeons, and the organization from any complications occurring after the surgery. This poses again as another hurdle that makes LASIK malpractice settlement not a very smooth process. However, they do not stop a patient from filing a claim. While doing so, patients are required to support the claims through an expert lawyer, a sound witness, and any necessary measures that would prove malpractice.

Malpractice provides detailed information on Malpractice, Medical Malpractice, Medical Malpractice Attorney, Dental Malpractice and more. Malpractice is affiliated with Whistleblower Protection Acts.

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The Medical Malpractice Lawyers and Their Obligations

Medical malpractice is one of the cases of personal injury that is difficult to prove. However, there are experienced and expert medical malpractice lawyers that can help the patients and their relative to file the law suits. An act is considered as malpractice if any of the medical professionals fail to perform his/her duties. It is necessary that you know the general principles and categories that are applicable in almost all malpractice cases.

Causes of medical malpractice that lawyers must take note

1. Improper treatment - there are times that doctors failed to treat their patients is not mandated in the codes of medical profession. It means that the doctor treated the patient like on other doctor will do. The same manner is true if the doctor chooses the appropriate treatment but performs it ineptly.

2. Failure to diagnose - this is the common mistake of doctors. There are times that doctors made wrong diagnosis that prompted the patient's illness to exacerbate because wrong medication is given to the patient. Instead of giving the patient a chance to enjoy his/her life, he/she is deprived of it because of the wrong information. In this case, the patient is entitled to file a viable claim with the aid of the medical malpractice lawyers.

3. Failure to inform the patient about the risks of certain procedures - the doctor has a duty to inform their patients on the pros and cons of every treatment or operation. This is known as "Duty of Informed Consent." Proper information is needed because the patient has a choice not to go through with the operation. The doctor can be held liable for this because the patient could have another option rather than risking his/her life.

Important things in Medical Malpractice Case

Every country and every state have different procedures and rules in filing the claims for medical malpractice. These rules and procedures have to be followed carefully so that you will not miss any chance of winning your case.

The first thing you must to do is to bring up the medical malpractice case right after the injury is diagnosed or observed. The medical malpractice lawyers have the responsibility to inform you about the limited time because there are some places that limit the litigation to three years. The time frame that is given to you to carry out your lawsuit is known as the "statutes of limitations." You have to process everything before the given timeframe is over. The court will dismiss your case even if the evidences you have are reliable and strong.

There are also some countries and states require you to submit your claim to malpractice review panel. The panel is composed of experts who will listen to your arguments and review the evidences and testimonies. After that, they will decide whether medical malpractice has transpired. The decision of the panel does not replace the real malpractice lawsuit and the panel also does not have the power to award damages. The findings of the panel can also be presented in the court and most of the time the court rely on their decision whether or not there is a malpractice case.

To know more about Medical Malpractice Lawyers visit http://www.personalinjuryportal.com

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