Let’s say that your worst nightmare comes true and you are hurt, injured or suffer sever medical complications due to a mistake on the part of a medical professional or institution. Now obviously you are considering how you can earn justice for your unfortunate situation — but how do you do that? What should you do prior to filing a lawsuit to help you get the best possible outcome, which may or mat not involve an actual lawsuit?
First of all, you should contact the medical professional involved in your case. You aren’t going to do this to inform him or her that you are suing them. Instead, you will ask them what went wrong and what normal courses of action are taken as a result. Sometimes, the professional or the hospital will provide you with medical services free of charge to help correct their mistake.
If this doesn’t help, then you can proceed to inform the appropriate medical board of your unfortunate medical episode. This won’t lead to immediate compensation by order of the board, but they could provide you with some helpful tips with how to proceed — in addition to issuing a warning to the medical professional in question about his or her performance.
At this point, you will want to consult with an attorney and ensure that you are within the statute of limitations for filing a medical malpractice claim. You will want to support your potential legal claim by getting a medical assessment, which will determine if your case has merit. And then, if you do proceed with a lawsuit, you should prepare for your case to be resolved out of court.
Source: FindLaw, “First Steps in a Medical Malpractice Case,” Accessed April 14, 2015