Medical Malpractice Lawyers - You Never Know When You May Need One

Submitted By: Tyson J Stevenson

Medical malpractice occurs when a health care provider who by an action or omission deviates from the accepted norms of practice in medicine leading to injury/ death to a patient.

Many deaths occur due to medical malpractice. A health care provider is not just the doctor or the surgeon but includes nurses, dentists, therapists, hospitals, clinics etc. Medical malpractice law is derived from the general negligence law. Various laws have evolved in the US, England, Australia and other countries, which are similar in concept for control of medical malpractice.

Claims are made for negligence, misdiagnosis, improper medication etc. Claims can even be made where informed consent of the patient is taken. Claims can also be made against corporations, hospitals, clinics for the mistake of their employees based on vicarious liability. The patient has the right to claim economic and non-economic damages.

However in medical malpractice cases, the burden of proof lies with the plaintiff (patient). Hence the patient should hire a good lawyer. Three things have to be proved by the plaintiff:

• The health care provider failed to provide adequate and reasonable care to the patient.

• This failure to provide adequate care to the patient has resulted in damage or loss to the patient.

• The health care provider is liable to pay the damages or loss.

The damages are of two types, compensatory and punitive. Compensatory damages are of two types economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are monetary losses like, medical care, medicines and loss of wages. These damages can be in the past or future. Non-economic damages are the ones like loss of organ or vision, pain, disfigurement, embarrassment emotional stress etc.

Punitive damages are very rarely awarded. Medical malpractice cases are complicated because when the patient is admitted he is already injured or ill and hence the damage caused by negligent medical care has to be assessed independently of the earlier illness or injury.

A further obstacle in medical malpractice case is that expert witness is to be provided by the plaintiff. Very few doctors are willing to testify against another doctor even when the case of negligent care is clear. On the other hand the defendant lawyers have a pool of doctors to defend the case of negligent medical care. Usually medical malpractice attorney firms provide expert testimony on the care provided by the health care provider. Some medical malpractice lawyer firms provide free case evaluation and take medical malpractice cases on contingent basis that is until the firm wins the case for the client, the client need not pay for the services of the lawyers. In medical malpractice cases it is vital to obtain the medical records as early as possible by the patient or his representative.

Most healthcare providers take medical malpractice insurance. There has been an ongoing debate by doctors and their medical malpractice insurance companies against excessive jury awards. Generally insurance companies rarely go to trial where large penalties are involved. However it must be remembered that the insurance companies and health care providers are willing to fight it out against spurious medical malpractice claims. The procedure for filing a medical malpractice claim varies from state to state.

About the Author:

Tyson J Stevenson writes on a wide variety of law related subjects. Expect to see his name often. A related resource is MM-Lawyers Further information can be found at HubbuH or News2Reviews

The Role Of A Medical Malpractice Attorney

Submitted By: Richard Romando

When a client files a claim for malpractice, it is the medical malpractice attorney’s job to secure him or her damages for the pain and suffering which resulted from a doctor’s negligence. In cases of death, the attorney attempts to college damages for the family of the deceased. This can be a complicated procedure, as malpractice laws and regulations, particularly the statute of limitations, may vary from state to state.

There are two types of damages available to victims of medical malpractice. A successful malpractice attorney may be able to secure the client both compensatory, as well as punitive, damages. Compensatory damages serve to financially compensate victims of medical malpractice for their own financial losses or damages that may have resulted from the incident. The client may be entitled to compensation for a whole host of medical bills both past and future, including hospitalization, surgery or therapy. The client may also be compensated for pain or suffering resulting from the malpractice. This might include any deformity or disfigurement, as well as physical or mental impairment.

Punitive damages refer to money recovered to make an example of the doctor in question. These awards are not meant to compensate the victim, but more to punish the defendant and hopefully deter him or her (as well as the profession) from future misconduct. Punitive damages are more difficult to recover, as the malpractice attorney must prove obvious, reckless disregard for the safety of a patient. The doctor must have knowingly engaged in inappropriate dangerous behavior for punitive damages to be recovered.

Medical malpractice attorneys must be aware of the specific medical malpractice “statute of limitations” governing the state in which the incident occurred, before addressing each malpractice case. The statute of limitations refers to the length of time one can legally wait before filing a claim for medical malpractice. These lengths vary from state to state so it is important for both the client and the malpractice attorney to be aware of their individual state laws governing medical malpractice.

Oftentimes, in cases where malpractice attorneys are successful is producing compensatory and punitive damages for a client, malpractice payouts can reach into the millions or dollars, depending on how profound the suffering of the victim is determined to be. Obviously then it is in a victim’s best interest to procure a medical malpractice attorney who is well-versed in the malpractice laws of the state where he or she resides.

About the Author:

Medical Malpractice provides detailed information about medical malpractice attorneys, laws, cases, insurance, statutes of limitation, and more. For more information go to http://www.e-medicalmalpractice.com and/or visit our affiliate site at http://www.growthink.com.

Finding Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Submitted By: Sandy Baker

Finding effective medical malpractice lawyers to handle your case completely and thoroughly may seem like a difficult thing to do. Many of the lawyers that you come across, will not seem that high in quality. Or, you may be shocked to learn that they have many cases on their plate and may not have enough time to take care of your needs as well. So, finding a medical malpractice lawyers that are good quality may seem, well, difficult. But, there are some things that you will need to consider when looking into any of the options that you come across.

Here are some things to consider about the medical malpractice lawyers that you find:

• First, find out just how much time they will dedicate to your specific needs for the lawsuit that you have in front of you.

• Next, find out just how they can help you with your case. What are their plans? What will they do to prove your case and will be decided in your favor?

• Do they provide you with an approach that you are comfortable with? Medical malpractice lawyers are able to communicate effectively and need to portray this to you, first.

• Do they provide you with their utmost attention? Will they give you the best of their work or will they pass your case on to some understudy to handle?

• What is their retainer fee and is this something that you can handle? Will they offer to do the case in such a manner as to only collect their fees if they win it?

It is important to find the medical malpractice lawyers that are specialized in their field. They will know what needs to be taken care of in any medical case. They will know where to look for the errors and the information that they need to win. You'll want someone who is qualified to be your medical malpractice lawyer.

About the Author:
For more information please see http://www.medical-malpractice-lawyers.co.uk

Medical Malpractice Lawyers

Submitted By: Keith George

When an injury occurs to a patient due to improper conduct by a health care provider, it is termed medical malpractice. Medical malpractice lawyers are specialized in this field.

Thousands of deaths and injuries occur every year due to medical malpractice. Medical malpractice is not restricted only to the doctor but by legal definition encompasses nurses, dentists, therapists, radiologists, laboratory technicians, clinics, hospitals etc. There are stringent for curbing medical malpractice.

Numerous lawsuits are filed every year for medical malpractice in the US. The patients or their near ones have the right to claim for economic and non economic damages. Generally claims are made for improper medication, improper surgery, misdiagnosis, negligence etc. The patient can file a claim lawsuit even when the informed consent of the patient is taken. The principle behind these types of claims is that the doctor is not absolved of responsibility even if the consent of the patient is taken.

Medical malpractice cases are complicated for various reasons. The primary reason is that when the patient comes under the care of the health care provider he/she is already ill or injured. Hence it becomes complicated to assess the damage caused by negligent medical care independent of the earlier illness or injury.

Another complication in medical malpractice is that the burden of proof is on the plaintiff (patient or the medical malpractice lawyers). The plaintiff needs to prove three things in court:

That the health care provider has failed to provide the patient with adequate and reasonable care.

That this failure to provide reasonable care is the cause of the damage caused to the patient.

Hence it is the liability of the health care provider to pay for the damages.

A further complication that arises is that the plaintiff has to produce expert witness. There are very few doctors willing to testify against a fellow doctor, even in cases of gross negligence. Hence it is vital to hire a good and experienced lawyer, a medical malpractice lawyer. Most law firms take medical malpractice cases on contingent basis and provide expert witness also.

Contingent basis means the law firm gets paid from the damages recovered from the defendant. Most of the medical firms are covered by insurance. Generally the insurance companies shy away from paying damages to the patient but if the patient is represented by an experienced lawyer they are willing for an out of court settlement. This is to avert the risk of a trial and the court may award more penalties.

The courts generally levy two types of penalties on the defendant that are compensatory and punitive penalties. Compensatory penalties are given to make good the damages to the patient.
They are of two types of compensatory penalties, economic and non-economic damages.

Economic damages are awarded to compensate for monetary losses like medical care cost, medicines cost, loss of income. The economic damages are awarded for both future and past losses.

Non-economic damages are awarded to compensate for non economic damages like pain, disfigurement, embarrassment, emotional stress etc. Punitive penalties are awarded to punish the health care provider however they are rarely awarded.

About the Author:

Keith George always writes about valuable news & reviews. A related resource is Medical Malpractice Lawyers Further information can be found at Health News

Am I Entitled To Personal Injury Compensation?

Submitted By: Helen Cox

First of all let me tell you a little bit about personal injury compensation. A personal injury can refer to numerous injuries that can occur to you. A back injury, broken/fractured bones, head injury, neck injury, whiplash, injuries to you feet, arms, foot, hand even repetitive strain injury can all be classed as personal injury if you have gained these injuries due to an accident that wasn’t your fault.

Personal injury doesn’t stop at physical injury; personal injury can also refer to psychological strains as well. Personal injury in the psychological sense can refer to such injury as post traumatic stress due to witnessing a serious event with devastating consequences or due to being involved in a horrific car accident/road traffic accident. Psychological personal injury can also refer to depression caused by your job and work status and some people suffer from work related stress due to factors in their job such as harassment, bullying and too much of a work load, etc.

Becoming the victim of a personal injury can seriously disrupt your personal and working life. A personal injury is the result of an accident that wasn’t your fault. If you have had an accident in the last three years that wasn’t your fault then you could be entitled to compensation.

Accidents that arise through no fault of your own can happen in most aspects of your daily life. Walking down the street you could trip over uneven paving or become a pedestrian victim of a road traffic accident. Whilst at work you could trip, slip of fall over packaging that was left out or obstructions that have been left on the floor. In an office environment you could have a personal injury that affects your wrist, back or leg.

The most common employment industry in which personal injury arises from accidents is the construction industry. Personal injury is sadly common in construction trades that don’t follow safety orders. This personal injury could be loss of limbs, head injury, spine injury or even fatality.

One of the most common causes of personal injury however remains within road traffic accidents. A road traffic accident can refer to accidents involving cars, motorcycles, Lorries, vans or public transport. The severity of the personal injury sustained from a road traffic accident depends on how bad the road traffic accident is. If you are involved in a personal injury accident, whether it be a road traffic accident, work accident, accident in public or a slip, trip or fall whilst walking down the road you could be entitled to compensation.

Personal injury compensation exists to help you after an accident that wasn’t your fault. If you are left out of work due to a personal injury then you will be left with mounting debts and unpaid bills. By claiming for personal injury compensation your money worries will disappear as personal injury compensation will cover all of your living expenses, any medical costs you encounter and any extra help that you may need whilst you are recovering.

A personal injury that was caused due to an accident that wasn’t your fault is something that no one wants to have to face. If you do find yourself facing a personal injury there is help available. You should seek medical help so that there is a record of any treatment you have received via to your personal injury and then enlist the help of a trained professional to get your claim underway.

About the Author:
Helen Cox is the web master of Accident Consult, specialists in Personal Injury

Medical Malpractice

Submitted By: Christian Tylor

Many people may not realize that medical malpractice is a real and ever growing problem. People die everyday from wrong diagnoses and incorrect treatments. The problem is that most of these cases are private and many are never reported. A lot of the population does not know enough about medical practices to know when they are faced with a malpractice problem. They are forced to take the word of the doctor and staff at hand. This may explain why only a small number of claims are filed for malpractice suits and only about half of them actually win the lawsuit.

Physicians have medical malpractice insurance that will cover them in the event someone files a malpractice claim against them. In the past the cost for this type of insurance was a flat rate, but due to the fact that medical malpractice suits are on the rise, the cost for this insurance has also begun to rise. There are not as many providers for this type of insurance as it use to be. This is because medical costs are going up and it is very difficult to make a profit in this business.

Things that can be considered a medical malpractice would be failure to treat a medical problem correctly that causes a new medical problem or makes the existing one worse. If a physician fails to diagnose a disease, detects the problem to late to help the patient or fails to treat the condition correctly after it has been diagnosed it could be considered malpractice. If problems occur during the use of anesthesia or surgery that was due to the fault of the doctor or a member of the staff it could be malpractice. Also prescribing the wrong medication for a patient or medicine that interferes with other known conditions the patient may suffer from is also grounds for malpractice.

Medical malpractice suits are normally always expensive and very complicated. You must be able to provide all of the necessary information to your attorney to have a chance of winning a lawsuit of this nature. This would be information such as a detailed list of the patient's medical history. This would include all doctors and hospitals or clinics that the patient has visited and all treatments that the patients received during this time, even if it seems unimportant. All medicines taken and prescribed must be recorded and a written description of all conversations that have taken place will be needed along with the dates everything took place. A medical expert will review the case and will ultimately be the one to decide if the suit is legitimate.

About the Author:

Christian Tylor is a freelance publisher based in Atlanta, Georgia. He publishes articles and reports in various ezines and provides financial resources on http://www.freenetpublishing.com.