Source: http://shirtrepair.gq/2016/06
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 02:15:42+00:00

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Medical and health care providers – primarily hospitals, surgeons, doctors, pharmacists, physicians, nurses and emergency medical technicians (“EMTs”) — are expected to offer us care and support during our most critical moments. The vast majority of medical and health care providers do offer excellent care that will help us to recover from a personal injury or medical condition. However, some providers fail to meet the requisite standard of care, and, under such circumstances, may be guilty of medical malpractice.
A patient’s right to recover compensation for medical malpractice is generally governed by common law as well as statutes and regulations which have been promulgated to protect patients who have been subjected to medical malpractice or medical negligence. Medical malpractice suits are usually complex, time-consuming, expensive to litigate, dependent upon expert testimony, and vigorously defended by health care providers and their insurers.
Thus, the medical malpractice lawyer and his client must present evidence to meet each of the foregoing elements at trial.
A physician commits malpractice by not exercising that degree of skill and learning that is ordinarily possessed and exercised by members of the profession in good standing acting in the same or similar circumstances. Durham v. Vinson, 360 S.C. 639 (2004). A plaintiff and his attorney must proffer expert testimony to prove both the required standard of care and the defendant’s failure to conform to that standard, unless the subject matter lies within the ambit of common knowledge so that no special learning is required to evaluate the conduct of the defendants.
A physician’s failure to obtain a patient’s “informed consent” with regard to a procedure or treatment is a form of medical malpractice. The term “informed consent” means that a physician must tell a patient all of the potential benefits, risks, and alternatives involved in any surgical procedure, diagnostic procedure, medical procedure, therapeutic procedure, or other course of treatment, and must obtain the patient’s written consent to proceed. Under Informed consent law, a physician who performs a diagnostic, therapeutic, or surgical procedure has a duty to disclose to a patient of sound mind, in the absence of an emergency that warrants immediate medical treatment, (1) the diagnosis, (2) the general nature of the contemplated procedure, (3) the material risks involved in the procedure, (4) the probability of success associated with the procedure, (5) the prognosis if the procedure is not out, and (6) the existence of any alternatives to the procedure. Thus, the plaintiff and his lawyer must present evidence of the physician’s breach of the foregoing elements of an informed consent claim in order to prevail at trial.
While most health care providers will not guarantee or warrant a particular outcome, there are times when they do, and a failure to successfully provide the outcome may give rise to a breach of contract or breach of warranty claim. These type cases usually involve plastic surgery wherein the patient is told that his or her post-surgery physical appearance will be the same as demonstrated on a computerized enhancement of the patient’s photograph. Thus, much like a business breach of contract claim, the plaintiff and his lawyer must present evidence of the physician’s breach of the stated warranty or guarantee by the preponderance of evidence in order to prevail at trial.
In a medical malpractice personal injury lawsuit, a victim seeks compensation for the injury or injuries he or she has suffered. Compensation can include past and future medical expenses, disability or deformity, loss of income, emotional and mental anguish, loss of a spouse’s comfort and society, past and future pain and suffering, and an amount which would be necessary to make the person whole as respects a permanent personal injury. McNeil v. United States, 519 F.Supp. 283 (D.S.C. 1981). In cases where the defendant acted recklessly, maliciously or willfully, punitive damages may also be awarded. Punitive damages in medical malpractice lawsuits are intended to punish the responsible party and deter others from committing the same acts. Gamble v. Stevenson, 305 S.C. 104, 406 S.E.2d 350 (1991). If a wrongful death results from the medical malpractice, the decedent’s beneficiaries are entitled to compensation.
For medical malpractice cases arising on or after July 1, 2005, which placed caps on non-economic damages a patient could recover from a liable defendant health care provider. S.C. Code § 15-32-220(a) limits the civil liability for non-economic damages of the health care provider to an amount not to exceed $350,000 for each claimant regardless of the number of separate causes of action on which the claim is based. S.C. Code § 15-32-220(a) provides an exception to the foregoing cap where the health care provider is proven to be grossly negligent, willful, wanton or reckless and that conduct was the proximate cause of the claimant’s non-economic damages. S.C. Code 15-32-220(b) provides that the $350,000 cap is limited to each claimant. S.C. Code 15-32-220(c) allows a claimant to stack his claim, and provides that up to three health care providers may be subject to the $350,000 cap per claimant, for a total of $1,050,000 per claimant.
The non-economic damage cap of $350,000 per medical entity or practice or person does not apply to economic damages and does not apply to punitive damages. Effective for medical malpractice cases arising on or after July 1, 2005, S.C. Code 15-32-230 further limits liability with regard to emergency obstetrical or emergency department situations. This section eliminates liability on behalf of any person providing emergency care or emergency obstetrical care to a person in immediate threat of death or an immediate threat of serious bodily injury while in an emergency room, obstetrical or surgical suite, unless the health care provider is proven to be grossly negligent. Other caps or limitations may be applicable to a medical malpractice case as well.
The plaintiff’s attorney must timely bring a medical malpractice suit within the required timeframes. There are time limits on bringing a personal injury lawsuit in the state of South Carolina known as statutes of limitations. See S.C. Code 15-3-530(5); 15-3-535. While a medical malpractice personal injury suit is generally subject to a three year statute of limitations, there may be exceptions depending on the circumstances, such as a medical malpractice case where the negligent conduct may be covered by a concept known as the “discovery rule.” See S.C. Code 15-3-545; Wilson v. Shannon, 299 S.C. 512, 386 S.E.2d 257 (Ct. App. 1989).
The statutes of limitations are different for negligence suits against a South Carolina state government agency pursuant to the South Carolina Tort Claims Act (“TCA”) and the federal government pursuant to the Federal Tort Claims Act (“FTCA”). Under the TCA, a suit must generally be filed within two years, unless a verified claim is filed within a year of the injury, then the statute of limitations is three years. S.C. Code § 15-78-110. Under the FTCA, an administrative tort claim must generally be presented to the subject federal agency within two years. Once a timely administrative tort claim has been filed, there is no statute of limitations on bringing a suit unless the federal agency denies the claim, in which case a suit must be brought in federal court within six months after the denial. 28 U.S.C. 1346(b), 1402, 2401, 2675.
South Carolina Code 15-79-125 requires, on medical malpractice cases arising on or after July 1, 2005, that before a medical malpractice suit can be filed, a plaintiff has to simultaneously file both a notice of intent to file suit and an affidavit of an expert witness subject to the affidavit requirements established in 15-36-100 in a county in which venue would be proper for filing or initiating the action. Statutory mediation of any such medical malpractice case is required as well, and, there are time limits for filing suit should the attempted mediation fail. As noted above, an expert’s testimony is necessary at trial to prove a breach of the standard of care and proximate cause of the injury, and the medical malpractice lawyer should retain a medical expert early on to assess the case and to be prepared to testify at trial.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on June 28, 2016 by blue.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on June 22, 2016 by blue.
In medical malpractice, a doctor or medical facility has failed to live up to its obligations, resulting in a patient’s injury. Medical malpractice is usually the result of medical negligence – a mistake that was unintentional on the part of the medical personnel.
Determining if malpractice has been committed during medical treatment depends on whether the medical personnel acted in a different way than most professionals would have acted in similar circumstances. For example, if a nurse administers a different medication to a patient than the one prescribed by the doctor, that action differs from what most nurses would have done.
Surgical malpractice is a very common type of case. A cardiac surgeon, for example, might operate on the wrong heart artery or forget to remove a surgical instrument from the patient’s body before stitching the incisions closed.
Not all medical malpractice cases are as clear-cut, however. The surgeon might make a split-second decision during a procedure that may or may not be construed as malpractice. Those kinds of cases are the ones that are most likely to end up in a courtroom.
The majority of medical malpractice lawsuits are settled out of court, however, which means that the doctor’s or medical facility’s malpractice insurance pays a sum of money called the “settlement” to the patient or patient’s family.
This process is not necessarily easy, so most people are advised to hire an attorney. Insurance companies do their best to keep the settlement amounts as low as possible. A lawyer is in a position to help patients prove the severity of the malpractice and negotiate a higher sum of money for the patient/client.
Lawyers generally work on “contingency” in these types of cases, which means they are only paid when and if a settlement is received. The lawyer then takes a percentage of the total settlement amount as payment for his or her services.
Medical chart mistakes – In this case, a nurse or physician makes an inaccurate note on a medical chart that leads to more mistakes, such as the wrong medication being administered or an incorrect medical procedure being performed. This could also lead to a lack of proper medical treatment.
Improper prescriptions – A doctor might prescribe the wrong medication, or a pharmacist might fill a prescription with the wrong medication. A doctor may also fail to check what other medications a patient is taking, causing one medication to mix in a dangerous way with the other. Some pharmaceuticals are “contraindicated” for certain conditions. It might be hazardous, for example, for a heart patient to take a particular medication for an ulcer. This is why doctors need to know a patient’s medical history.
Anesthesia – These kinds of medical malpractice claims are usually made against an anesthesiologist. These professionals give patients medication to put them to sleep during an operation. The anesthesiologist usually remains in the operating room to monitor the patient for any signs that the anesthesia is causing problems or wearing off during the procedure, causing the patient to awaken too soon.
Delayed diagnosis – This is one of the most common types of non-surgical medical malpractice cases. If a doctor fails to determine that someone has a serious illness, that doctor might be sued. This is especially dire for cancer patients who need to detect the disease as early as possible. A wrong diagnosis can cause the cancer to spread before it has been detected, endangering the patient’s life.
Misdiagnosis – In this case, the physician diagnoses a patient as having a disease other than the correct condition. This can lead to unnecessary or incorrect surgery, as well as dangerous prescriptions. It can also cause the same injuries as delayed diagnosis.
Childbirth malpractice – Mistakes made during the birth of a child can result in permanent damage to the baby and/or the mother. These kinds of cases sometimes involve a lifetime of payments from a medical malpractice insurance company and can, therefore, be extraordinarily costly. If, for instance, a child is born with brain damage as a result of medical malpractice, the family might be awarded regular payments in order to care for that child throughout his or her life.
What Happens in a Medical Malpractice Case?
Proving causation usually requires an investigation into the medical records and may require the assistance of objective experts who can evaluate the facts and offer an assessment.
The settlement money offered is often restricted to the amount of money lost as a result of the injuries. These losses include medical care costs and lost wages. They can also include “loss of consortium,” which is a loss of benefits of the injured patient’s spouse. Sometimes, money for “pain and suffering” is offered, which is a non-financial payout for the stress caused by the injuries.
Money for “punitive damages” is legal in some states, but this generally occurs only in situations where the negligence was extreme. In rare cases, a physician or medical facility is found to be guilty of gross negligence or even willful malpractice. When that happens, criminal charges may also be filed by the local authorities.
In examples of gross negligence, the health department might revoke a doctor’s medical license. This does not happen in most medical malpractice cases, however, since doctors are human and, therefore, all capable of making mistakes.
If the plaintiff and the defendant’s medical malpractice insurance company cannot come to an agreeable sum for the settlement, the case might go to trial. In that instance, a judge or a jury would decide the amount of money, if any, that the plaintiff/patient would be awarded for his or her injuries.
This entry was posted in Uncategorized on June 13, 2016 by blue.

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