A medical malpractice case addresses a doctor-patient dispute. That dispute has arisen from allegations by the patient, concerning the doctor’s failure to follow the medical standard of care and to, thus, cause harm to the plaintiff/patient. Without a basis for harm, the court would find no reason for pursuing a medical malpractice lawsuit.
What sort of conduct by a physician could become the basis for a medical malpractice lawsuit?
Personal Injury Lawyer in Sault Ste. Marie knows that it could be a negligent act, such as prescribing the improper dose of a prescribed medication, or using a vaccine for adults on a child. It could be the omission of a necessary step or procedure, such as deciding against the utilization of an added examination or test, during a determination of the reason for a given patient’s symptoms.
Possible features of settlement
It might resemble any settlement that has aided resolution of a civil injury case, one that has followed a period of negotiations.
It could come with conditions that were specific for the jurisdiction of the court where the plaintiff had submitted the original complaint.
—Some states do not allow a settled lawsuit to provide for payment by the defendant of a plaintiff’s future medical care, or for care over time.
—Other states require creation of a structured settlement, which would mean that the funds for the plaintiff would be delivered on a regular basis over a specified period of time.
The state in which the plaintiff had filed a complaint with the court might have placed a limit on the size of the plaintiff’s award. In all states, a sued physician must approve of the terms of the settlement, before the court has the ability to finalize that same settlement.
Sometimes the court must approve of the terms in any negotiated settlement. That would be the case in a situation where the medical malpractice case had involved alleged harm to a minor.
The results of any settlements that have come at the conclusion of a medical malpractice lawsuit are shared with the board that oversees the certification of physicians. That board then determines how the outcome could affect the physician’s ability to keep practicing medicine.
A patient does not have ready access to any decision made by the medical board. Still, the outcome for a series of settlements could work to underscore the fact that a doctor has a questionable standing within the medical community.
For instance, a patient might discover that a given doctor can only admit patients to a certain hospital. That would be an indication of the fact that few hospitals had agreed to place that same physician on the list of doctors on their staff. In other words, the same physician’s certification might be in jeopardy.