When Things go Wrong: Do You Know Where to go when the Doctor Makes a Mistake?
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Although the doctors may have several years of medical training under their belt, when all is said and done, they are nothing more than human. As such, they may very well make a mistake from time to time. Sometimes, however, these are not merely mistakes, but a clear case of negligence and a lack of proper care. So what is the best way to respond?
First and foremost, protect your health
If you've been injured as a result of medical malpractice, seek out another physician to remedy the damage immediately. In the process, provide your medical history and as many details surrounding the circumstances of the accident as possible. You're encouraged to take your time and go into great detail when describing the state of your health before and after the accident.
Determine the severity of the consequences
Generally speaking, there are 3 different levels of severity when it comes to medical malpractice.
The first level is when a doctor makes a mistake, but there are no consequences on the patient's health as a result of it. For example, a doctor may prescribe the wrong dose of medication, causing no long-lasting harm to the patient. Due to this, the court of law does not recognize it as malpractice.
When a doctor makes a mistake and minor consequences follow (especially if the doctor quickly corrects the mistake), in the eyes of the law, this is not a case of negligence either.
Only when the patient suffers serious consequences or injuries as a result of the doctor's decisions or actions, you could potentially be talking about a case. During the trial, several experts will be tasked with determining whether the doctor was truly at fault, which might prove to be quite a difficult task indeed.
Get in touch with a specialized attorney
The next logical step is getting in touch with a lawyer for medical malpractice. The lawyer will help you gather all the facts you need in order to file a report. Seeking the help of a lawyer is a much better way of going about it than attempting to do this yourself, unless of course you have a vast amount of experience filing these types of reports yourself.
Then, if the situation calls for it, the lawyer will proceed to file a lawsuit against the offending party in question. Even though you could technically do all of this on your own, it's usually not worth it; after all, the lawyers have made a career out of handling matters like these, gathering plenty of experience in the process.
Another possible danger of going solo is settling for less than the claim is worth. A lawyer, on the other hand, is much less likely to get caught in such a trap.
Conclusion
Medical negligence can be a rough thing to go against, especially while you're still recovering from all the physical trauma and the shock that comes with it. But if you keep your cool in the face of all this stress and hire a lawyer with a great reputation to aid you in your battle, there is still plenty of hope for saving the day and emerging victorious.