When you have been duly wronged by any medical practitioner, it is within your right to file a suit against them. That’s what is known as a medical malpractice suit. It is in many ways like a personal injury claim, just that in this case, it is against a medical professional such as a nurse, surgeon, or doctor.
Even though the process of filing a medical malpractice suit may seem like a straightforward task at first, but as time goes on, many claimants come to realize that these types of suits are quite complex legal affairs that can run for a long time. It can take months and even years to resolve.
MedicalMalpractice.com reports that only 21 per cent of medical malpractice suits that end up in a trial favour the plaintiff. While on the other hand, over 60 per cent of the settlements fall in the defendant’s favour. We’ve put together what needs to be done to improve your chances of winning a medical malpractice suit.
Look For A Capable Lawyer
The first and important thing you need to do to make a good case against a medical professional is to find a good, trustworthy, and experienced medical malpractice lawyer. This is essential if you’re to get any compensation from them. According to a medical malpractice lawyer in Douglasville, a malpractice lawsuit would contain various forms of information you probably have never heard about, and it is only your attorney who would be able to cut through every piece of evidence to get all the facts. It’s not something you can do by yourself, and apart from that, your lawyer also has to present the information you’ve provided in a way that the presiding judge or jury can understand. Now imagine if no lawyer was working for you. That’s even more trouble from the start.
Be Able To Prove There Was Negligence
Now that you’ve got a legal expert on your side, you’re on the right path, and the reason why you need an experienced one is that you have to be able to prove that you were actually given negligent service. Understand that a negligent act does not necessarily need to be intentional for you to file for a malpractice suit. Intentional or not, it is legally alright for simple mistakes that have caused your injury to be brought up in a suit and thus a financial compensation.
Put, proving negligence is your ability, through the help of your lawyer, to collect information that proves that the medical personnel actually was in the wrong. Contrary to how it used to be in the past, modern doctor’s offices and medical facilities no longer deal with paperwork.
They’ve transitioned to digital notes, so you don’t have to worry about the doctor’s incomprehensible handwriting. You can request to see the notes legally so that hopefully, you get clues that could lead to proper actions. With the help of your lawyer and their doctors, you should be able to prove negligence and put together a case that can be held in the courtroom.
Find Witnesses
You would need credible witnesses who can take the stand beside you in court if you want to have any chance of winning the suit. An expert witness’s testimony has a very crucial impact on a medical malpractice claim. The expert witness needs to prove that the defendant (medical practitioner) did fail to meet the required care for a plaintiff’s (you) condition.
They can also help the jury understand complex scenarios and other important aspects of the case. Your ability to find expert witnesses with the aid of your lawyer will help improve the plaintiff’s credibility if their testimony supports your claims.
Being Able To Convince The Jury
In many malpractice suits, the plaintiffs feel that opting for a settlement would not cover their financial needs or make up for what they’ve been through. In those cases, the court can arrange a jury trial to help in deciding if the suit should be awarded or not.
That’s a good spirit, but you should keep in mind that in most medical malpractice cases, there’s the possibility that you might end up getting nothing if the medical professional wins. Remember from the introduction that plaintiffs get to win only 21% of all the recorded jury trials. So unless you’re able to prove your case properly, you might end up losing more than you bargained for.