Medical malpractice cases are normally filed because you or a loved one has been hurt or killed by a doctor or other medical professional’s negligence, whether it was intentional or unintentional.
Your job when you file a case is to prove that the negligence was present in the case; you need to be able to show that you would not have suffered the same injuries if you had gone to another medical doctor, for example.
There are a few steps to take before you file a medical malpractice case. By following them, you can gather as much evidence and information as possible before speaking to your attorney.
First, contact the doctor or medical professional involved in your case. It’s important that you are able to get a full understanding of what happened and why you were injured. Is the injury something that can be reversed or remedied? If so, it may be possible to obtain those services for free to correct the issue and avoid a lawsuit.
If you don’t feel that talking to the medical professional helped, you can reach out to the local medical licensing board. The board will be able to look into the case and has the ability to issue warnings or to discipline professionals who are making mistakes and putting patients at risk.
In all cases, you have a limited amount of time to file a claim. When you speak with your attorney, make sure you know the statute of limitations that applies; you don’t want to decide to file only to learn that you don’t have a case because time ran out.
Source: FindLaw, “First Steps in a Medical Malpractice Case,” accessed March 18, 2016
