When you visit the doctor or another healthcare provider, you typically trust them to do everything possible to resolve your health issue and make you feel better. You absolutely expect them to “do no harm,” which is explicitly stated in the Hippocratic Oath.
But unfortunately, sometimes even the best doctors and medical providers make mistakes. They fail to make diagnoses that they should have made. They make errors during surgeries. They even prescribe medications with dangerous side effects because they failed to notice a conflict.
Fortunately, the law provides a remedy to any individual who suffers as a result of this type of medical malpractice. But to win compensation for your claims, you’ll need to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Why should you file a medical malpractice lawsuit? And how do you get started?
What Is a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
A medical malpractice lawsuit is a legal action filed against a medical provider or health care provider, such as a doctor, a nurse, or a specialist. Medical malpractice is strongly related to negligence, and you’ll typically need to prove negligence if you want to win a medical malpractice claim. To prove negligence, you’ll need to demonstrate that this provider had a duty to you, that they breached that duty by making an unreasonable mistake, that they caused harm, and the harm was meaningfully linked to the mistake they made.
If you’re successful in your claim, your medical provider will be responsible for compensating you for any and all harm you suffered. This includes compensation for subsequent medical bills, lost wages, pain and suffering, loss of consortium, and much more.
Why Should You Consider Filing a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
Why would you consider filing a medical malpractice lawsuit?
- Compensation. In a successful medical malpractice case, you can win compensation for a variety of types of damages. This is typically the main motivation leading people to file medical malpractice suits. In some cases, a single medical mistake can lead to incredible amounts of pain, further surgeries, and millions of dollars of other damages. In other cases, a mistake might only cost you a few hundred to a few thousand dollars in extra expenses. In either scenario, you deserve to be compensated for these expenses, and a lawsuit is probably the only way that you’re going to win that compensation.
- Protection. Medical malpractice can have consequences well into the future. Even if this breach of duty hasn’t affected your life much currently, it might hurt you more in the future. Filing a lawsuit is one of the best ways to protect yourself, so make sure you finish filing within the statute of limitations in your area.
- Justice. You may also be motivated to file a medical malpractice lawsuit out of a sense of justice. This is a way for you to hold your medical providers accountable for the decisions they made, hopefully making them think twice about their decisions in the future. Doctors and medical providers hold a lot of power in our culture, and we need to be able to pursue justice against them whenever necessary.
Why Not File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
Why wouldn’t you consider filing a medical malpractice lawsuit if you suffered harm as a result of a medical provider’s actions, omissions, or directions?
- Money. Some people believe that filing a lawsuit is expensive. Although it’s true that you’ll need to pay for attorney fees, you typically won’t need to pay anything until and unless you win a settlement. Accordingly, money shouldn’t stop you from filing suit.
- Time. Medical malpractice cases, like most personal injury cases, take a long time to resolve. You’ll probably need to spend many hours of your own time, over the course of months or even years, to win the compensation you deserve.
- Stress. Throughout this time, you’ll probably have to deal with a lot of stress. The outcome will be uncertain. You’ll have a variety of responsibilities in pursuing your claim. You may have to recite your version of events over and over. It’s a lot for anyone to deal with, especially if you’re already dealing with physical pain or other maladies.
- Difficulty winning. It’s hard to win a medical malpractice lawsuit. Most people inherently trust doctors, nurses, and other professionals in this industry. You’re going to have an uphill battle if you want to show that they made a significant mistake.
Starting Your Medical Malpractice Claim
The first step in starting a medical malpractice claim is having an initial consultation with a medical malpractice lawyer. This is usually free, and it doesn’t take much time, so there’s no reason not to take this step. From there, you can analyze the merits of your case, consider your options, and decide how you want to move forward.
