When you receive treatment for a medical condition and suffer an adverse health event afterward, you may be entitled to compensation for this health episode if you can prove that your doctor was negligent. However, the courts will not always agree that your doctor was negligent and you might need help from a personal injury attorney who has handled medical malpractice cases.
1. Liability
To be able to hold a doctor responsible for your injuries, you will need to prove that you were under the care of the doctor at the time that the mistake was made and that the mistake caused you to become injured. For example, you might have chest pain and may visit a doctor. Once you have visited your doctor, they might instruct you to take a medication. In this hypothetical, maybe you have a heart attack.
The fact that you visited the doctor over your chest pain establishes that you were under their care and even wrote you a prescription. However, you must also prove that the prescribing of the medication deviated from the standard of care and that your doctor caused your medical condition. For example, the medication itself might have caused you to have a heart attack. Or, there might have been actions your doctor should have taken to prevent your heart attack from occurring.
2. The Role of a Personal Injury Attorney
Your personal injury attorney will work with a medical expert to determine if you have a case. You will need to rely on an expert witness who can testify to what a reasonable doctor would have done in that situation.
Once your personal injury attorney can determine that the doctor was negligent, they will then be able to assist you in calculating the damages you have suffered as a result of the negligence of the doctor. For example, you may be entitled to compensation for any further medical treatments you need as a result of the negligence of the doctor, any pain and suffering you experience, and lost wages as a result of being unable to work as you recover.
3. Medical Malpractice Insurance
One of the best ways to seek compensation for medical malpractice is to contact the doctor's medical malpractice insurance provider. By doing this, you will be able to negotiate a settlement and will not have to take your doctor to court. Consider letting personal injury attorney services handle the settlement negotiations on your behalf.
