Featured News 2013 When to Use an Expert Witness in Your Medical Malpractice Claim

When to Use an Expert Witness in Your Medical Malpractice Claim

If you or a loved one were a victim of a medical malpractice case, many questions and concerns may arise to pursue both justice and to seek compensation for your injuries. Fortunately, you do not need to go about this process on your own! By contacting medical malpractice attorney in your area, you will have the opportunity to file a claim for medical malpractice or wrongful death with the help of an experienced legal professional who understands the situation at hand. With a skilled attorney on your side, they will do the required investigation into your claim to produce a strong case to be used before the court on your behalf if necessary. One of the ways that an attorney may choose to fight for your claim is to have an expert witness come and give a testimony, showing what happened to you or your loved one as an act of negligence or error by the medical professional. Medical expert testimony is not necessary in all cases, so having a general understanding is helpful before your case even begins.

The first question that is often asked is why is there a need for an expert witness to help with the case? Though there are exceptions, when you are dealing with a medical malpractice case, having a medical expert on your side is extremely beneficial and the judge may even require it before allowing the case to proceed. The primary reasoning behind this is because without the expert testimony, the matters are much too complicating for the court to have to sort through. The jury can then learn from the expert witness's testimony to further understand the situation at hand; whether or not it influences their decision in favor or against the victim. Having a medical expert is not the only important aspect of the case, making sure that your expert witness is knowledgeable in the area of your unique situation is an absolute must; though to find this specific doctor it may be difficult to find and come at a price.

When questioned, the court will seek to learn a number of details about the case at hand to come to a conclusion about the possibility of malpractice. The first question that will need to be addressed is whether or not the doctor (or other medical professional) in question performed the standard level of care that the average doctor is required to do. This addresses the concern of whether the actions of the doctor were competent and if that was another doctor would have done it that given situation. However, in the medical profession no cut in stone rules for a way to go about a procedure, though the expert may be able to use past research and medical journals to help prove their argument.

The next questioned that will need to be answered by the expert witness is whether or not the doctors actions injured the victim. They will need to show that whatever the doctor did or didn't do (giving substandard care to the patient) resulted in the injury or further illness of the patient. Medical malpractice cases can be extremely complicating, because of multiple factors that resulted in the injury or illness of the victim, so the expert will need to explain how the doctor's negligence or incompetence was the direct cause of the victim's injury rather than the other factors.

If you re victim of medical malpractice, contact an attorney in your area today to fight for the compensation you deserve!

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