When most people make an appointment with a physician, the end goal is to improve his or her condition rather than making it worse. Your physician holds your life in his or her hands, so it can be life threatening when a mistake is made. If your physician made a medical mistake that has had an impact on your overall health, he or she must be held responsible.
Here are some things you will need to consider before you move forward with a malpractice case:
Prove the Malpractice Occurred
To prove the lawsuit, you will need to prove that a case of malpractice occurred. Your proof will have to include that:
If all of these factors are true in your circumstance, you potentially have a malpractice case against your physician.
Adhere to the Statute of Limitations
Each state has its own statute of limitations for medical malpractice lawsuits. The statute of limitations is simply the timeframe you have to file your lawsuit.
Should you not file your claim within the statute of limitations in your state, you will not be allowed to seek any compensation for your medical injury unless there are some extremely exceptional circumstances.
The timeframe could be very short in some states, so you will need to get started as soon as you can if you plan on this course of action.
Provide the Notice of Claim
To take legal action against your physician for medical malpractice, you will have to send notice of claim. You cannot file a medical malpractice suit if you have not completed this step. The notice of claim will let the physician know you plan to file a lawsuit for malpractice. Once you file the notice, you will have to wait a period of time before you can file your lawsuit.
The notice of claim will be different from state to state. You need to discuss your options with your attorney so you know what information you must include in your notice of claim.
Physicians are held to a certain standard of care and owe duty of care to their patients. The physician's care has to measure up to other physician's care provided in similar circumstances. If you are able to prove your physician was medically negligent in your case, you have completed the first phase to help prove your case. Contact an experienced personal injury attorney for more information and tips.