Elizabeth A. Harris, Associate in the Health Care & Life Sciences practice, in the firm’s Washington, DC, office, was quoted in Relias Media’s ED Management, in “Potential Plaintiffs in ED Malpractice Claims Face Long Odds,” by Stacey Kusterbeck.
Following is an excerpt:
One thing that makes ED mal-practice cases so costly is the standard of care at issue must be established by expert testimony. In emergency medicine cases, the patient may have been treated by clinicians across multiple specialties. This means more costly experts are needed to prove the case, according to Elizabeth A. Harris, JD, associate attorney in the health care and life sciences practice in the Washington, DC, office of Epstein Becker Green. ...
Plaintiff attorneys conduct due diligence in determining if an ED patient will be accepted as a client in several ways:
- Interview the patient, family members, friends, or others who know the circumstances of the situation. ...
- Obtain the relevant medical records.
- Secure a supportive independent opinion by a physician expert or forensic nurse reviewer. ...
As the case is evaluated, the attorney keeps in mind that to prevail, the plaintiff must prove there was a standard of care violation, the violation led to the injury (also known as causation), and there were damages. All this requires an expert opinion to establish. ...