How Do I Know if My Medical Injury is a Valid Malpractice Case?

You should visit a medical facility or a doctor when you have serious problems with your health. Unfortunately, the treatment may leave you feeling worse or even seriously impaired due to the negligence of a medical professional or caregiver.

The instance of Julie Andrews, the legendary actor/singer springs to mind here. She lost her mellifluous voice after a surgery for removing nodules on her vocal cord backfired in 1997. Not willing to bear with it, she sued the authorities for medical negligence and was relieved to find it settled in her favor three years later in 2000.

You do not have to be a celeb to ask for justice. Any kind of medical injury caused due to the neglect of doctors, nurses or other medical caregivers makes them liable for malpractice. However, it is best to have all your facts clear in the first place. It's normal to be grieved and angry at the outcome of the negligent handling initially. You must, however, be prepared to be able to substantiate the following when you feel the need to press malpractice claims.

Professional - Patient Relationship- You simply cannot sue a doctor for taking his casual advice to heart when he had not been treating you for a specific condition/injury. Fortunately, this can be proved conclusively when you have the doctor’s prescriptions and records of visiting the said doctor in your possession. This issue arises most often the professional was not the only one treating you directly or had only been indirectly responsible.

Negligence- Simply being unsatisfied with the outcome of the treatment is not going to help. The medical neglect cases need to be proved in a court of law. The concerned medical professional should not have harmed you by deviating from the standard process of treatment or failing to take care as a skilled medico would have done in identical circumstances. It is not important for the doctor to be the absolute best in the trade though. However, he/she needs to have the requisite skills for treating the condition and must have been fastidious while taking care of the patient. This happens to be the crux of valid malpractice claims more often than not.

Cause – Causing serious harm to a patient cannot always be the onus of a doctor though. In fact, there are many instances where the patient had been severely ill or indisposed prior to visiting the doctor. This prompts the legal experts representing the doctor to question the validity of the claim. Drawing an inference about the doctor’s role in causing harm or death is not always effective. You must be able to prove that it had been the doctor’s negligence that is more likely to have damaged your health. It is best to seek an expert’s counsel and have him testify in court.

Damages – You are not likely to be vindicated by suing for malpractice even if you prove that the concerned doctor had been inept. You need to be able to prove that the actions of the doctor had resulted in grievous injury to your person. However, you are well advised to seek compensation if you have:

• Suffered physical pain or mental anguish
  
• Lost wages due your inability to work
  
• Received hugely elevated medical bills for no reason
  

Medical malpractice suits are not simple. The nature of the cases vary widely and might include everything from a faulty tubal connection to failing to remove the stitches in time. The law differs from state to state as well. It is, therefore, mandatory to check before deciding to file such a claim. Here are the categories that make a medical malpractice suit valid.

It is imperative to get in touch with a medical malpractice lawyer as a medical negligence claim happens to be complex and needs to take cognizance of diverse stipulations that may include the following as per the State laws.

Alvin F. De Levie & Associates is supported by an elite team of lawyers, industry specialists, and experts who can assist you in the legal process.

Call us for a free consultation at 844-777-2529 today, to find out whether your case is a valid medical malpractice case.