More often than not, medical malpractice is hardly a concerning factor for most of us as we assume we can fully trust our healthcare professionals. While this should be the standard case, there are numerous instances in which individuals are on the receiving side of unfair injustice. Unfortunately, medical practitioners are not excluded from the realm of human errors despite years of intense training and education.
The concern of medical malpractice becomes an extreme concern when you or a loved one is left battling to cope with the consequences of negligence. If you are unsure of how to go about handling a medical malpractice lawsuit, you should consider the following excellent steps to obtain justice.
Seeking Legal Representation
Before you can set the wheels of justice in motion, you will need to seek professional legal representation. While you may consider just any attorney, it is crucial to seek specialized assistance. Not all attorneys are well-versed in matters of medical malpractice which is why you should specifically seek out a renowned medical malpractice attorney with good years of experience.
Your attorney will guide the lawsuit for a positive outcome. There is no doubt that the guilty party will be relying on legal representation which means that neglecting this step will likely put your case in imminent jeopardy. You will need to consult with your chosen attorney before any communication with any insurance providers and the medical practitioner in question.
Consult Another Healthcare Practitioner
Because the concern at hand is without a doubt your health, you should seek consultation with another healthcare practitioner as soon as possible. Another healthcare practitioner will need to evaluate and assess the extensity of the error and how it will impact your quality of life. While caring for your health is a definite priority, this step will also validate your lawsuit.
Receiving a second opinion will be undeniably beneficial to your case as you will have documented reports of the impacts of the error as well as their implications to your health and your general life. You will not be able to seek justice without evident proof that you have endured medical malpractice.
Maintain A Journal And Document your Experience
Your attorney will request medical reports and necessary documents from both healthcare practitioners to strengthen your case. However, it is vital for you to keep a record of your experience through both papers as well as a journal. Whether you include only journal entries or you have relevant photographs of your experience, this effort will significantly strengthen your case.
Your journal should consist of accurate notes on your health in which you describe your symptoms and difficulties that have resulted from the error. The more precise and detailed your journal, the more relevant it will be to your lawsuit.
Do Not Contact Involved Parties
You may feel somewhat inclined to contact the other parties involved. However, this will be a mistake that could head negative repercussions for your case. It is best to avoid all contact with the medical practitioner in question as well as all other parties involved. Even if you are contacted, it is recommended to direct the communication to your attorney.
The defendant’s insurance may also attempt to contact you with offers of settlements. However, any compensation offered would likely not cover the realistic costs of your experience. Therefore you should avoid making any decisions without the confirmed advice of your attorney.
Additional Supporting Documents
Even though it is probably that your attorney can craft a case with no more than medical records and other essential evidence, you should consider the benefits of strengthening your claim with additional supporting documents. These documents could be reports from professional psychologists who have evaluated the impacts of the error on your mental health. In addition to this, you could include reports from your employers and even notes from friends and family who have assisted you during a difficult time.
Medical malpractice may not be an ordinary injustice, although despite being a rare experience, the detriments can be massive. Even if the repercussions of the error may not seem severely extreme, it is well within your rights to seek compensation and justice even if the mistake made has not turned your entire life upside down.
Be sure to rely entirely on your legal representation by taking each step in the process only with relevant guidance. Your attorney will be handling most aspects of the lawsuit, which will enable you to focus on recovering.
You may be interested in: “Top 9 Reasons for Malpractice Lawsuits”