What You Need to Know When Filing a Medical Malpractice Claim
Unfortunately, many patients every year end up leaving a hospital suffering from injuries that occurred because a medical professional at the hospital failed to fulfill their duties properly. When you have been the victim in a situation like this, it is known as medical malpractice. You are not alone in the injuries you are suffering from and medical malpractice attorneys want to ensure you receive compensation for the physical and emotional pain you have gone through. They care about clients and want to see them thriving, but this is not always easy after they are the victim of medical malpractice. If you would like to reach out to caring attorneys, please call a law office. For more general information on medical malpractice, please read the article below.
What kind of information do you need in a medical malpractice claim?
When you decide to file a medical malpractice claim, medical malpractice attorneys are here to help you. When you start this process, there are a few things you want to make sure your claim proves. These are:
- There was a Medical Relationship. It is absolutely imperative that you can prove there was a doctor-patient relationship between you and the person you are filing the claim against. You cannot sue someone you may have overheard giving medical advice. There must be an established relationship where they agreed to be your doctor and you agreed to be the patient.
- The Doctor Acted Negligently. The second element you must have in your claim is that the doctor acted negligently. This line can get blurry. If you leave a hospital and are unhappy with the results of a procedure, you cannot simply claim medical malpractice. The doctor must have acted in a way that was negligent when they were in the process of diagnosing or treating your injury or illness. Thus, if another reasonable doctor would have diagnosed you or treated you differently than your doctor, you can likely prove that they acted negligently.
- This Negligence Caused an Injury or Illness. Not only must you show that there was negligence involved, but more specifically that the doctor or medical professional’s negligence directly caused you to be injured. When you are trying to prove that their negligence caused an injury, we can work to get medical experts to testify on your behalf showing how that negligence caused your injury or illness.
- There are Damages. Finally, we will need to show that you suffered from harm because of the negligence and thus are entitled to specific damages. These could be pain and suffering or even additional medical bills to treat your new injury.
Filing for medical malpractice can be complicated because you need to be sure your claim has the above factors. Additionally, it is extremely helpful to have a medical expert on your side who can verify that negligence occurred and that another medical professional would have treated you differently. For more information on how a medical malpractice attorney can help you with your medical malpractice claim, reach out to attorneys now.