Medical and Surgical Malpractice

Screen before Investing.
- Be certain before embarking on a potentially costly course, both ..financially and emotionally
- Many enquiries may be ill-founded based on mis-communication, ..incomplete knowledge by patient/family, or false expectations
- It must be determined whether the case has fatal flaws before ..pursuing
Standard of Care 
- clinical assessment, investigations, diagnostic (timeliness and ..competence)
- consent: patient informed verbally or with printed data, signed ..consent
- treatment appropriateness, timing, venue, technique 
- complications expected, when recognized, how managed
Causation
- direct, indirect, sole cause, prominent or one of multiple causes
- differences between medical and legal causation and their ..significance
- res ipsa loquitur? 
- natural history 
- outside expected outcome range
Quantum of Damages 
- attributable and non attributable outcomes
- specific functional limitations
- to include physical, ecological and emotional
- short-term and long-term
Litigation Strategy 
- identify both plaintiff and defence strategies
- further or added documentation to be obtained
- determining any omission, contradiction, or discrepancies
- imaging studies to be obtained as necessary, not just reports
- address weak links early
- Pre-empt likely defences
- Weakest link first
Expert Opinions
- Questions to be addressed
- Critique of format and content
- Rebuttal
Examinations for Discovery
- critical questions to ask
- wording for crucial questions
- critique transcript for E for D regarding deficiencies and/or ..weaknesses
- questions contingent on possible answers
- central medical contentious issues