Generally, people pursuing medical malpractice claims will present evidence to a jury to prove that a deviation occurred and caused harm. Juries do not always make rules in accordance with the evidence, though, and if they do not, their verdict may be subject to challenge, as demonstrated in a recent…
Expert testimony is a key component of medical malpractice cases and is often needed to demonstrate negligence and causation. While experts must meet certain qualifications, they do not have to be specialists in the field about which they are testifying but can show their credentials via training and experience, as…
The majority of patients trust their doctors to correctly diagnose their medical conditions and provide adequate treatment. Unfortunately, in some cases, medical professionals fail to properly diagnose a medical condition. One medical condition that is often misdiagnosed is deep vein thrombosis (DVT). Deep vein thrombosis (DVT) is a condition that…
For many medical issues, a prompt diagnosis is essential to a good outcome. As such, a patient that suffers harm due to a delayed diagnosis may be able to recover damages in a medical malpractice lawsuit. Merely demonstrating that a diagnosis was delayed is not sufficient to establish liability, though,…
A missed diagnosis can cause irreparable damages, and in many instances, the harm suffered is fatal. Simply because a patient dies after being improperly diagnosed does not automatically mean their family can recover compensation, however. Rather, the survivors must prove the doctor in question committed medical malpractice, and if they…
There are several elements to a successful medical malpractice claim. In other words, a plaintiff must not only prove the defendant acted negligently, and in doing so, harmed the plaintiff but must also comply with the procedural rules for pursuing damages. All too often, however, the plaintiff’s claims are dismissed…
In most medical malpractice cases, the primary focus is on whether the defendant health care provider breached the standard of care and thereby caused the plaintiff harm. In some instances, though, a defendant seeking to refute liability will argue that an intervening cause, such as the plaintiff’s own negligence, was…
While delays may greatly impair a patient’s health, they may also impair the patient’s right to pursue damages for negligent treatment. For example, a patient harmed by a doctor’s delay in prescribing diagnostic testing may lead to a delayed diagnosis, which can cause irreparable harm to the patient’s health. Similarly,…
In some instances in which a patient suffers from multiple symptoms that do not have a clear cause, a doctor will be unable to provide the patient with a prompt diagnosis. While some degree of delay in diagnosing a patient may be reasonable, a substantial delay without just cause may…
While in some cases, a patient’s symptoms are straightforward, and the cause of the symptoms are easily ascertainable, in other instances, the journey to an accurate diagnosis can be lengthy. Simply because a patient does not immediately receive a correct diagnosis does not indicate that malpractice is present, however. Instead,…