In a medical malpractice trial, there are certain types of questions that should never be asked while cross-examining the defense witnesses, especially the doctor.
In a medical malpractice case, the plaintiff’s attorney receives the opportunity to ask questions to the doctor regarding the incident, at the deposition. This question and answer session takes place in an attorney’s office, under oath, and whatever is said during the deposition can be presented as evidence during the trial. Before the deposition, the plaintiff’s attorney reviews the case file and medical records of the patient.
When a medical expert takes the stand, either for supporting the victim or defense’s position, the two lawyers have the chance to ask the witness several questions. One of the important questions would be asking the doctor, his opinion, and conclusions he has reached after reviewing the medical records of the patient. The defense attorney will ask similar questions. The question is why the attorneys would do that.
The procedural rule of statute of limitations provides the plaintiff a certain amount of time to bring in a lawsuit from the time the incident has occurred. In case of medical practice in New York, the patient has two and half years to start the case against the negligent doctor. However, there is a doctrine in the law called the continuous treatment rule. This rule will extend the time that the patient has for filing a medical malpractice lawsuit in New York, even when the statutes of limitation has expired. Hence, this rule tolls or extends the statutes of limitations.
Sepsis in its basic definition means a massive infection in your body. The question is how it occurs, why it should matter to you, and how it could be grounds for a medical malpractice case. For instance, say you have undergone a surgical procedure, and the surgeon has inadvertently injured your bowel or colon during the surgery, and does not know about it.
When you are receiving medical care, the doctor might want to do a differential diagnosis to determine the most likely cause of your health problem. When you go to a doctor with a complaint, the doctor will ask many questions, to narrow down what the most likely cause is for your sickness.
When you bring a claim against a hospital or a doctor in the state of New York, the medical malpractice case will be tried in court and a jury will ultimately decide on the case. Did you know that juries generally like doctors? Many lawyers refer to this, as the elephant in the room. Lawyers discuss it with their clients, and it is discussed with juries as well. Attorneys should definitely broach this subject, and it should not be kept hidden.
A subpoena is generally a document that is meant for compelling someone to do a particular thing. In most cases, subpoenas are required for compelling certain people to show up at the trial, and take the witness stand. However, in medical malpractice cases, subpoena duces tecum is served. Duces tecum is a Latin phrase, and this type of subpoena compels someone or some authority to provide the copies or original medical records of a particular person.
Ectopic means misplaced, and therefore ectopic pregnancy is a pregnancy that occurs outside the womb or uterus. In a normal pregnancy, the baby will be born within the uterus, where it grows in the course of nine months. A pregnancy that winds up going outside the uterus is potentially quite deadly. When the embryo is growing in an enclosed space, it cannot go anywhere, it will keep getting bigger, and the woman will experience various symptoms.
Can a person handle his or her own medical malpractice case in New York? Even though a person is legally allowed to handle his own case, it would be highly impractical to do so, due to several reasons. Unless the person knows how the litigation process works and all the rules and regulations that go into handling the procedural issues of a medical malpractice lawsuit, the person should not handle such a matter on his own.
