What are the common defenses in medical malpractice cases?

Florida medical malpractice lawyers highlight defense strategies

(Broward County, Florida) – December 17^th, 2015 – For the most part, healthcare professionals do their best to ensure that patients are treated with the highest standard of care. Patients too, put their faith in doctors who are expected to cause no harm or make any existing illness or injury worse. However, there are occasions when a doctor or other healthcare professional may be negligent, for which they can be held accountable.

However, medical malpractice or hospital neglect laws are complex while there are several defenses available to defendants accused for malpractice. Here are a few of the common defenses which you and your Broward FL medical malpractice lawyer can decide is the best way to attack these charges or claims.

Standard of Care

This is one of the most common forms of defense where a doctor may argue that he/she upheld the standard of care expected in the medical profession. The defense may also argue that the patient’s injuries or death was not the direct result of a medical error. With the onus to prove negligence on the plaintiff, it takes the expertise of a Florida medical malpractice attorney to challenge and prove this line of defense.

Contributory Negligence

Often times, medical professionals aren’t the ones responsible when patients are injured or happen to die following treatment. If a doctor can demonstrate that a patient was negligent, which resulted in the injury, the doctor will have a valid defense in a malpractice claim. For example, if a patient failed to inform the doctor about certain aspects of his/her medical history or took the wrong medicines, it is most likely that the doctor will not be held liable in a lawsuit and they will not need a Broward, FL medical malpractice lawyer.

The South Florida medical community may not like Broward County, Florida medical malpractice lawyers (which is probably the case all over the country between the medical community and med mal lawyers) but someone needs to challenge them if they are careless. You can find that legal help on this breath taking website: http://medical-malpractice.usattorneys.com/florida/. 

If a minority of medical professionals support the defendant who may have pursued a new or more radical form of treatment to benefit the patient, the defendant is likely to have a solid case. However, the doctor should have informed the patient of the line of treatment and that it was outside of the medical mainstream categories of treatments.

An expert’s testimony is a vital element in any malpractice or hospital neglect case. It is therefore not unusual for the defense to argue that the plaintiff’s expert is not based on reliable principles. In some cases the defense may even argue that the expert is not qualified to give his/her opinion on the particular form of treatment. The expert may not be allowed to testify if the defendant is successful in proving this.

Absence of Causation

One of the common defense strategies is proving the absence of causation. The doctor may argue that the plaintiff’s injuries or death was not due to his/her mistake. For example, a patient goes to a doctor complaining of headaches and is only prescribed painkillers instead of any tests. He or she is later diagnosed with brain cancer which is in the advanced stage and is not treatable, and dies a few weeks later. In such as case, the family may argue that the doctor was negligent.

However, the doctor’s attorneys are likely to argue that the negligence did not cause the harm. Even if the doctor had performed tests and diagnosed the case properly, the patient would have died anyway. In such cases, it may be possible to eliminate any link between the defendant’s error and any actual harm.

State laws place time limits on when an action can be submitted for medical malpractice or hospital neglect. Some states have implemented and written down something called the “discovery rule,” which dictates and pertains to the statute of limitations period does not start until the injury is basically comprehended or discovered by the former patient. If the medical professional can show that the patient discovered the injury at a certain point and that the statute of limitations has since run its course, the case may be dismissed.

Medical malpractice can be an especially complex and confusing area of the law. If you think you have a medical malpractice claim, or just want to know more about your legal rights and responsibilities as a patient, you can consult with a Florida medical malpractice attorney. Click right here http://medical-malpractice.usattorneys.com/florida/ to bring you one step closer.