Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for medical professionals to face claims of malpractice. In a recent case, a spine surgeon was able to defeat not one, but two claims of medical malpractice. In these cases, the patients claimed the physician encouraged medically unnecessary procedures. They also state that these procedures resulted in injury.
Medical malpractice claims must follow rules of law
How did the surgeon beat these claims? Before diving into the medical records and bringing in other medical professionals to defend the decision to move forward with surgery, the spine surgeon was able to beat the claims based on the rules of law. Patients have a certain time period to bring forward a claim against a doctor. A failure to file within this time period can void the claim. In both cases, the patients waited too long to move forward. As a result, the court threw out the claims.
Other rules to consider
The details matter. When it comes to these claims, there may be a disagreement over when the time period begins to toll, or count against, the time allotted to bring forward the claim. As such, it is important to have a legal professional review claims and discuss these, as well as other potential defense strategies, when faced with allegations of malpractice. Other potential legal technicalities that could bring these lawsuits into question include whether or not medical experts within the field agree with the physician’s actions as well as the credentials of any medical professional that has been presented by the alleged victim.