While it’s not generally like most healthcare providers to provide anything less than the optimal standard to their patients, things can still take a turn for the worst at any time. If you or someone you love is a victim of medical malpractice, it’s important to take a very specific number of first steps to recover from the error and be compensated for it.
Seek Medical Attention
If the physician’s error has left you injured or susceptible to illness or injury, contact a different healthcare professional right away. After seeking medical attention, report the negligence or error to your doctor. Depending on the type of injury or illness sustained from the malpractice, it might be beneficial to contact a specialist.
Study Your Case
There are many different types of medical malpractice classifications. Knowing what type of malpractice classification you’re dealing with can easily help you determine whether or not filing a claim is worth the effort. For example, a “Doctor Mistake, No Injury to Patient” case would represent something along the lines of a doctor prescribing a medication with an incorrect dosage. The dosage amount might cause a temporary side effect or reaction in the patient, but if the error is observed and caught before any injuries or serious illnesses are suffered, medical malpractice has not taken place.
File a Report
Filing a report is an important step because it will immediately trigger a state level investigation of the physician in question. You can file the complaint about your physician guilty of the malpractice with the state’s medical board.
Hire a Personal Injury Lawyer
Lastly, hire a personal injury lawyer to help you navigate the complex process of winning a medical malpractice claim. It is simply not possible in most cases to study up on medical malpractice in time for your hearing. In almost all situations, a personal injury lawyer is needed by the victim’s side to help them understand what has been done wrong and how to challenge it.
Completing these steps and acting as quickly as possible is the key to dramatically improving your chances of winning a medical malpractice case. Remember, the longer you wait to act on a medical error, the less likely your chances will be for compensation or recovery.
Informational credit to Kitchen Simeson Belliveau Llp.
This article is courtesy of Anita Ginsburg, a freelance writer from Denver who often writes about home, family, law and business. A mother of two, she enjoys traveling with her family when she isn’t writing.
