In Washington, DC, surgical errors such as instruments or other foreign objects being left inside a patient after surgery are typically addressed as medical malpractice claims. To succeed in court, the plaintiff must prove negligence. A surgical malpractice lawyer can help you put together a strong case.
How Are Surgical Errors Like Retained Instruments Proven in Washington, DC Court?
Proving Negligence
To prove negligence, you have to prove four things:
- The healthcare provider owed a professional duty of care to you.
- The provider breached that duty by deviating from the accepted standard of care.
- The breach directly caused your injury.
- You suffered damages, which may include medical expenses, lost wages, pain and suffering, or other harms.
You might be familiar with the concept of proving something “beyond a reasonable doubt,” but that is a criminal law standard. In civil law, the standard is lower. You only need to prove through a “preponderance of the evidence” that it is more likely than not that each of these things is true.
To prove the negligence, you will need specific evidence. Your lawyer will help you gather things like your medical records, video from the surgery, testimony from witnesses to the surgery, the testimony of any doctors who treated you later, and possibly testimony from expert witnesses.
Res Ipsa Loquitor
Malpractice lawsuits are notoriously difficult to win, but retained instrument lawsuits are actually one of the easier types of malpractice cases to deal with. This is because the court may allow your lawyer to apply the legal doctrine of res ipsa loquitur, which is a Latin phrase that means “the thing speaks for itself.”
This simply means that the negligence of leaving something inside a surgery patient is pretty obvious. The jury may be able to reasonably conclude that the harm would not have happened at all without the negligence, even without expert witness testimony or much evidence beyond proof that something was left inside the patient. In other words, you won’t have to prove deviation from the standard of care because it is obvious.
Time Limits
Here in DC, you typically have three years from the time the injury was discovered or should have been discovered to bring a lawsuit. If you don’t act within that time limit, you will lose your right to sue at all. There are only a few exceptions to this, most notably for minors or in the case of fraud, but in any case, it is always wise to talk to a lawyer as soon as possible.
Before initiating a medical malpractice lawsuit in DC Superior Court, local legal codes require that your lawyer provide written notice to the intended defendant at least 90 days in advance. The notice has to explain what you’re suing for and the legal grounds for your lawsuit.
Talk to a Surgical Malpractice Lawyer in Washington, DC
For help with your case, call us now at LawMD Chartered in Washington, DC at 833-695-2963. Our lawyers are also doctors, and we know how to fight for patient rights.
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