You may be a victim of medical malpractice accounting to severe injuries or grave losses. Medical malpractice is considered as negligence or wrongful methods employed during a medical procedure concerning a patient. It may be a result of negligence or errors in diagnosis, aftercare, or health management. Any error that can be considered as medical malpractice can be characterized by:
- Non-compliance to the standard medical procedures
- An injury that was caused due to negligence
- If the injury resulted in a significant loss.
A few examples of common medical malpractices are:
- Misdiagnosis or failure in diagnosis
- Carrying out an unnecessary surgery
- Errors that may occur during or after a surgery
- Prescribing improper medicines or dosage
- Poor aftercare or follow-up
- Disregarding patient history
- Failure to comply with proper testing method and procedure
- Failure in symptom recognition
In case you feel that you or any family member of yours has been a victim of medical malpractice, then you should consider hiring an attorney to represent you in the court of law. Here’s what you should do when you are hiring an attorney to represent your case:
● Choose An Attorney Certified By Board
Hiring someone who isn’t certified can only worsen your situation. You should always look for an attorney who is licensed and certified to represent medical malpractice cases by the board. Their expertise and technical know-how in cases like these can enhance your chances of winning the case. Medical malpractice cases are very sensitive as there are life concerns associated with them at all times.
● Give The Details Of Your Case To The Attorney
You don’t want your lawyer to stay in the dark. In order for them to assure your victory, you should tell them each and every detail they may ask you. Explain what went wrong and how you suffered because of the medical representative’s misconduct. Hand over the copies (or originals) if they ask for the reports and other documents concerning your condition. For example, if you have suffered an injury due to wrongful surgery, then your lawyer may begin by asking you about when and how the surgery was carried out. Handing over these details will only help your attorney investigate and discover your case the best way.
● Preparation Of Documents And Filing A Lawsuit
Before filing a lawsuit in the court, you are required to do some documentation. Your attorney can guide you through these required legal procedures. You may have to sign a summons, certificate of service, complaint and proof of service with the complaint in the court. Your attorney will help you with all the paperwork and file your case in the appropriate court. You should let your lawyer do their job as they know what is in your best interest. These procedures are best entrusted with your lawyer. You should not try to interfere as it may lead to discarding of your case from the court if misconducted.
● Proceeding In The Court
Once your case is filed in the court, your attorney may start with the legal proceedings. They may investigate your case, collect all the pieces of evidence, convince the necessary witnesses, and a lot more. Before the motion begins there may be pretrials. During a pretrial, the court may demand to discover your case. Put forth all the facts. Your attorney may need to prove why your case is legitimate. Once, the pre trials are over, the court will start with the motions. Both, the plaintiff and the defendant try to prove their part of the incident in the courtroom. Finally, it is up to the jury (if you have requested for one) or the judge to pass the verdict and validate if your claim should be compensated.
Cases concerning medical malpractices can be very complex as it is very difficult to prove the same. Your attorney knows exactly what to do. Rather than taking the charge in your hands sometimes it is best to seek help from the professionals. Having said that, there are a few limitations as stated by the statutes laid by your state governing body. You should demand your attorney to inform you about the options that you have, to get the best results. We all understand how hard it could get when someone has to suffer because of the negligence of professionals who are rested with such an important responsibility to restore humanity. Another fact that you should know before you hire an attorney is that unlike personal injury attorneys, medical malpractice attorneys may not work on a contingency basis. So it is going to be very expensive. You should consider consulting an attorney before actually hiring them.
