A Brief Overview of the Role of a Medical Malpractice Expert Witness

Medical malpractice is a touchy subject for both plaintiffs and defendants, and a complicated process at that. For a claim to succeed, proof of the doctor-patient relationship, the doctor’s negligence, and the patient’s injury as a direct result of the doctor's negligence must be firmly established. Before the claim proceeds to court, it must first undergo scrutiny by a panel of experts who will review the merits of the case and determine whether any form of medical malpractice has indeed taken place. Before the trial goes underway, a credible medical malpractice expert witness will need to be summoned to provide sound analysis of the facts surrounding the case. While a prompt apology from a medical practitioner may pave the way for a settlement without the need for litigation, many cases eventually end up in court. Cases that involve missed diagnoses, for instance, often lead to serious complications and untimely death, and as such require thorough investigation.

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The Role of Expert Witnesses in Malpractice Cases

Medical malpractice occurs when a doctor performs treatment that is not recognized as standard healthcare treatment (i.e. advising cancer treatment procedure from the 1950s to treat a patient in 2013). More often than not, medical malpractice cases are caused by the negligence or ignorance of a medical professional.

Most people think that the outcome of a malpractice case falls solely upon the medical malpractice attorney. However, the legal process for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit demands that the doctor (or other healthcare provider) was indeed negligent.

According to medical malpractice laws, medical negligence is present when it is determined that the doctor diagnosed or treated a patient in a way that another doctor would never have done. The only way to determine this is for a medical malpractice expert witness to testify.

A medical malpractice expert witness is often a reputable doctor from the same field as the doctor accused of medical malpractice. These witnesses are required to go through all the medical records of a patient to see if there was indeed negligence on the part of the accused doctor. After reviewing the records, the expert witness will then testify in court if there was negligence on the part of the accused doctor or not.

What Constitutes Medical Malpractice?

Doctors are often seen as authority figures. After all, they spend the better part of a decade studying for their medical degrees and training in hospitals to hone their skills. If you show them your hand, they can tell you every bone, muscle, ligament, joint and nerve that comprise it. Since they specialize in the inner workings of the human body, they are experts at treating the various ailments that afflict it.

No matter how highly patients may think of them, doctors are still human and are not infallible. In fact, there are 15,000 to 19,000 cases of medical malpractice filed each year. However, if an injection feels slightly more painful than usual, that’s not necessarily grounds for a malpractice suit. Doctors can only be charged with malpractice if they were negligent of their duties, giving substandard treatment that harms, injures or causes death to patients.

In other words, deviation from the standard quality of care must first be established before the doctor can be held legally responsible for any harm caused to a patient. In such cases, a medical malpractice expert witness can study a plaintiff’s complaint to see if there is indeed professional negligence on the part of the doctor. Often, an expert witness’s opinion is necessary before a malpractice lawsuit can be filed.

3 Tips to Help a Lawyer Get a Medical Malpractice Expert Witness.

Like everyone, a medical expert witness - and a lawyer - has certain needs. An expert witness needs medical reports (i.e. X-rays, MRI’s) of lawyers’ clients. A lawyer needs to communicate with their experts, especially because they are “critical in understanding the finer points of a case and any items that the attorney should focus on”. Getting a good one out of many medical malpractice expert witnesses is not always easy. However, the above tips give some direction. If a lawyer needs an expert witness right away, he or she can narrow the search by contacting a professional such as Taylor Medical Consulting.

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When Law and Medicine Meet

Different professions have different expertise but they don't always remain separate. When determining if a medical practitioner contributed to adverse effects on a patient's condition, the court has the final say. However, the basis of the court's decision is data often rife with complicated medical terminologies and conditions that are not easy to understand. Therefore, having a medical malpractice expert as a witness saves time and energy to understand what actually happened.

The medical expert can provide a testimony whether the doctor in question has followed the standard of care a normal, competent doctor would have observed. They can explain in layman’s terms how a process went wrong and how it affected the patient. If this is the case, the witness can then testify that the doctor’s error led to the current issue with the patient.

The opinion and insights of the expert witness will bear significant weight since they have a complete understanding of how efficient medical professionals should work. They also have an in-depth knowledge of how the body works and how diseases develop so they can explain how the doctor's conduct could have or have not led to further problems. By having experts in the medical field testify, the court can deliver justice for patients who were victimized by their incompetence. 

Why You Need to Hire a Competent Medical Malpractice Expert Witness

A medical malpractice lawsuit typically involves doctors, and in a few cases, other medical practitioners, such as nurses. As these cases involve scientific details a judge and jury may not be familiar with, the testimonies of medical expert witnesses is essential to shed light on the complicated terminologies of the case. What they say in court will serve as a strong evidence for the case. Both the plaintiff and the defendant can use medical expert witnesses' testimonies to present their argument. In a medical malpractice lawsuit, the expert witness is expected to answer the question of whether a medical practitioner followed the standard care expected for a certain situation. A qualified medical malpractice expert is then expected to give proof on the doctor’s failure to observe standard care and discuss how this lapse of judgment resulted to the patient's injury.

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Malpractice Cases: Importance of a Medical Expert

Medical malpractice pertains to the professional negligence of a health care provider, such as doctors, therapists, and nurses, wherein it caused harm, injury, or death to the patient. Most medical malpractice cases involve a medical error in diagnosing the illness or misdiagnosis, providing wrong medication dosage, leaving things inside the patient's body during surgery, or operating on the wrong part of the body. In this context, the error happened because they did nothing about the situation (also referred to as an act of omission), or the error was likely due to negligence in their part.

For patients to receive compensation for their suffering, they need to seek advise from experts of medical malpractice laws. Majority of malpractice cases need medical expert testimony, and without it, the judge is likely to dismiss or decide the case early. The rationale behind this is that the courts have agreed that the technical information the jury must consider becomes too complicated to sort without the help of a medical expert. However, opinion of the expert is not always entirely accepted by the jury, rather it is used to consider the facts.

The rules of every state differ when it comes to who is qualified to give testimonies as a medical expert. If the case of the plaintiff involves malpractice within a specialized field, then you will need a specialist as your medical expert. The expert may be considered as a specialist through a combination of academic and practical experience, and even board certification.

Win Your Case by Getting a Medical Malpractice Expert Witness

An article in Medspace.com talked about the ambiguous qualification of a medical malpractice expert witness and it's effect on the stand of the defendant doctor. In a malpractice case, both the plaintiff and the defendant are required to present the substance of their expert witnesses' testimonies even before the trial starts. This will require them to present a witness with the same specialization they have. It's the witness' responsibility to give credible testimonies favorable to the issue being talked about. Medico-legal procedures are hard to deal with but can produce great results in the end. It's important that both parties respect the procedures and get credible witnesses for their cases. Consultants can strengthen your stand if you have a reliable one too. Consultants like Taylor Medical Consulting can help you look for a suitable witness to strengthen your statements.

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Getting a Witness in a Medical Malpractice Case

Before any healthcare professional begins his medical practice, he must swear by the Hippocratic Oath, which is widely believed to have been written by Hippocrates, the Father of Western Medicine. With this oath, all medical practitioners promise that they will provide quality medical treatment to their patients fairly and honesty, and swear to do no harm. Unfortunately, quality healthcare is not assured 100 percent of the time.

A doctor whose failure to perform quality treatment on a patient results in worsening of the latter's condition could find could be due to a number of different causes, including negligence. In U.S. medical history, perhaps one of the most prominent cases of medical malpractice involved a blood type O 17-year-old girl who underwent a heart and double-lung transplant from a blood type A donor—clearly it was a fatal mistake that could have been avoided had the medical practitioners done their job.

However, to establish that a doctor or physician had committed an error, it is important for the patient's loved ones to engage the services of a medical malpractice witness. A medical malpractice witness can provide technical information in the medical malpractice case that an ordinary lawyer cannot, no matter how hard he works. With valuable testimony from a medical expert, a judge is likely to dismiss the case.

Caution on Medical Expert Witness Offers

Established healthcare practitioners may be asked to help out in a medical malpractice lawsuit. They can be tapped by the plaintiff or the defense to provide accurate information to corroborate or dispute facts in a case. This is especially true in recent times, as more hospitalists find themselves on the dock and both camps seek more evidence to bolster their arguments. There are some issues to consider when approached with offers to be an expert medical witness.

First up, a medical expert witness in a malpractice case needs to be from the same line of specialization as the practitioner in the other camp. Although there are no specific qualifications for becoming a medical expert witness, there is a possibility that the other side may question the witness' credentials.

Being tapped as an expert witness can be a lucrative avenue for any practitioner. However, they are still bound by the Code of Ethics as stated by their specialist medical organization and state registration boards. Take note as well that testimonies are public record.

Providing independent testimony under oath in a malpractice case can be one of the most taxing experiences any medical practitioner will undergo. They only need to see what is being asked of them before considering the assignment, especially if this can play into their reputation.