Medical malpractice represents one of the most complicated types of personal injury cases in the United States. Moreover, a victim of medical malpractice can suffer significant personal injuries and other damages. Understanding these realities, there exist five vital steps to take if you feel you’re the victim of medical malpractice.
- Document your medical malpractice claim
- Itemize your medical malpractice losses
- Pay attention to claim and lawsuit deadlines
- Keep publicly quiet about your situation
- Retain capable legal representation
Document Your Medical Malpractice Claim
When you learn that you believe you’re the victim of medical negligence or medical malpractice, you need to do everything you can to comprehensively document your claim. This includes collecting all of your related, relevant medical records. (Bear in mind that you are fully entitled to all of your medical records.)
If the results of medical negligence are some sort of physically noticeable injuries, you will want to document that as well. In the Digital Communications Age, this step fairly easily can be done by videoing or taking photos of your injuries.
Itemize Your Medical Malpractice Losses
Start compiling a list of all of the losses you feel you’ve sustained as a result of medical malpractice. Examples of losses medical malpractice victims typically sustain include:
- Additional medical expenses
- Pain and suffering
- Mental anguish and emotional distress
- Loss wages
- Disability
- Disfigurement
Understanding that you are not a medical malpractice expert, don’t feel you need to attach some sort of price tag to all of these losses. You can itemize lost wages. As will be discussed in a moment, experienced legal counsel can aid you attempting to put a dollar amount of injuries and losses like pain and suffering as well as mental anguish and emotional distress.
Pay Attention to Claim and Lawsuit Deadlines
Medical malpractice insurance claims and lawsuit filings have specific dates that you must pay attention to if you have suffered injuries for which you want justice and compensation. A major deadline in all U.S. states is what is known as the statute of limitations.
The statute of limitations sets forth a specific time period by which a medical malpractice lawsuit must be filed. The failure to file a lawsuit within the time period permitted by a particular state’s statute of limitations can result in a victim of medical malpractice from ever being able to seek justice and compensation in his or her case.
Keep Publicly Quiet About Your Situation
A natural and understandable inclination is to share your experiences with others if you believe that you’re the victim of medical malpractice. For example, many people turn to social media platforms like Facebook and post about what has happened to them.
The reality is that in claim after claim, public posting about alleged medical malpractice comes back to haunt a victim of this type of negligence. Individuals inadvertently make statements in these posts that can prove legally detriment to them – and they don’t realize what has happened until it is too late.
In the grand scheme of things, it’s best to keep as quiet as possible about your situation. This certainly is the case until you’ve consulted with a medical malpractice attorney who can provide you with proper guidance.
Retain Capable Legal Representation
Finally, if you believe you are a victim of medical malpractice, you are strongly advised not to go it alone when it comes to seeking the compensation you deserve. An experienced, tenacious, and caring medical malpractice lawyer from The Doan Law Firm is available to your convenience to discuss your case and your rights. You can schedule an initial consultation and case evaluation with a Doan Law Firm medical malpractice attorney any time of the day or night by calling us at (800) 349-0000. We are available to you seven days a week, 52 weeks a year, including all major holidays.
A nationwide law firm, we can schedule an initial consultation at any one of our 40 offices, at your home, or another location convenient for you. We can arrange a virtual appointment online. There is never a change for an initial consultation.
The Doan Law Firm makes an attorney fee promise to you. We will never charge an attorney fee unless we win your case for you.