Everyone who has a bad outcome from a medical procedure, or lack thereof, feels they have a medical negligence claim. It is not that easy. Many times the action must be looked at in reverse, starting with the damages to the individual. If the person is not seriously and permanently injured, then a malpractice case may not be justified. This is true even if there is negligence by a doctor. This is true because these claims are so costly to pursue. Not to say anything of the time and effort needed to make a case. The action has to be economically and productively feasible.
Costs associated with a medical malpractice lawsuit will usually have a range of $25,000.00 to $100,000. In certain types of medical malpractice claims the costs will far exceed this range. The main expenses involve hiring of experts in the various fields necessary in order to establish each specific area that must be proven. One expert may be retained to establish that the defendant doctor breached the standard of care for physicians practicing in that specialty. Another may need to provide testimony to establish that the breach of the standard of care was the cause of the injury. Yet others may need to establish the nature and extent of the injuries.
Many medical negligence lawsuits, such as birth trauma cases require several different experts with varying expertise. Some of these cases occur because the fetus has been deprived of sufficient oxygen for a period of time. Cerebral palsy can be the result. Experts, such as obstetricians, nurses, pediatric neurologist, pediatric neuroradiologists, pathologists, economists, and life expectancy experts are the norm in these cases.
Most of the experts have to be retained from other states in which the case is being litigated. Medical Practitioners do not like to testify against their in-state brothers. The costs of the experts plus travel and other associated expenses will rise quickly. Consider the cost for the expert to review hundreds of pages of medical records at $300.00 to $1000.00 per hour, plus costs of depositions at $1500.00 to $5000.00 plus trial testimony at $5000.00 to $10,000.00 or more for one witness. It is easy to see why these claims must be viewed from an economic standpoint before they are ever undertaken.
People who have been wronged by the medical profession need to understand that simply being wronged does not automatically mean they should pursue a medical malpractice case. Lawyers handling these claims should not accept them solely because the physician has been negligent. Unfortunately, economic realities must be considered. Take a situation where a person has been damaged to the extent that a jury might give them $50,000.00. If it cost $25,000.00 to pursue it, not counting attorney's fees, the lawsuit is not economically feasible. Hard decisions need to be made by a client and the attorney when medical malpractice cases are involved. If the wrong decision is made, no one will be happy in the end. The wronged party will feel wronged again... this time by the legal profession rather than the medical profession.
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