Every year, hundreds of thousands of Americans die from medical errors, while many more people suffer serious injuries. If you can pinpoint that medical negligence caused your condition, you can recover substantial compensation if you can prove malpractice.
Before you reach that point, you must go through a lengthy and potentially laborious legal process with an uncertain result. You can expect medical professionals to vigorously defend against your case in any way possible.
You need to bring a fight to prove your claim, and you should never attempt this alone.
Always contact a medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible to put you in the best possible position to win your case.
A Mclean medical malpractice lawyer will work to build your case through a combination of working with experts and aggressive investigation. They will fight for you to receive the compensation you deserve when you suffer an injury by medical negligence.
You Need to Prove That the Doctor Breached Their Duty of Care
Like any other personal injury case, you must prove that the medical provider failed to live up to the duty of care that they owed you. To win your case, you must demonstrate that the doctor did something considered unreasonable under the circumstances.
Mistakes sometimes happen in medical care, no matter what the doctor does. In malpractice cases, however, the law compares doctors to reasonable medical professionals of similar skill and training. If they do not provide care as another reasonable provider should, they have breached the medical standard of care.
The question is how you can prove that the doctor was careless, especially since you may not know exactly what happened to cause your injuries.
Your case often begins by obtaining your medical records. The doctor may not always willingly give these records to you, and you may need a medical malpractice lawyer to fight for you to get your complete file. Remember that you have a right to these records under the law.
Medical records can tell the story of what the doctor did, but even those may not paint the complete picture. While the doctor should document your care, they may not make extensive notes of a mistake.
You may still need to piece together evidence to determine whether the doctor provided substandard or unreasonable care.
Your Medical Malpractice Lawyer Would Work With Expert Witnesses
Once you have the medical records, you need to show why the medical professional’s conduct was unreasonable under the circumstances. Again, you are facing a significant challenge here. You must recreate what happened in the doctor’s office, hospital, or operating room. Then, you must show why the care you received fell short of the standard of care that the doctor needed to follow.
Your medical malpractice lawyer will retain one or more medical experts to give their opinion about the care you received. The experts can testify about what a reasonable doctor should have done in the situation to show that what the doctor did was unreasonable.
Your medical malpractice attorney must overcome the tendency of a jury to trust doctors and give them a natural sense of credibility.
Representation from an experienced medical malpractice attorney is critical at every stage of the legal process, especially investigation and evidence collection. Your lawyer must build a strong case to prove the malpractice that caused your injuries.
A Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Question the Doctor in Discovery
Your medical malpractice lawyer can also build your case by conducting discovery. In every lawsuit, you can gather evidence in the hands of the other party. Most importantly, your medical malpractice attorney can speak to the doctor in a deposition.
Your medical malpractice lawyer will get to question the doctor under oath and learn about what they did in their own words. In addition, your medical malpractice attorney may obtain other evidence and records in the defendant’s possession to use in your case.
Discovery is a crucial part of your case. If your medical malpractice attorney can build a persuasive case in the discovery process, it can increase the chances that the defendant is willing to settle your case. They never want to face a jury when there is compelling evidence of their negligence.
Why You Need a Medical Malpractice Lawyer
It is virtually impossible to prove that the doctor acted unreasonably without the help of a medical malpractice lawyer. These heavily scientific cases depend on an attorney with knowledge of medicine who can effectively work with expert witnesses to establish and prove your case.
You must make a persuasive case to convince a defendant to settle with you. If they refuse to admit liability or offer a fair settlement, you may have to take your case to trial, which is a complicated legal proceeding.
When hiring a medical malpractice attorney, you need to retain someone with experience in these types of cases. Medical malpractice lawsuits require specific technical knowledge, and not every attorney has the experience necessary to try these cases.
Moreover, you need a medical malpractice lawyer who knows their way around a courtroom and has previously tried similar cases. While very few cases end up in front of a jury, you must be prepared to go all the way to trial.
It does not cost you anything from your own pocket to hire a medical malpractice lawyer for your case. You only pay a lawyer from the proceeds of your case if you win. This means you incur no financial risk in hiring a personal injury attorney to handle your case.
Seek your free consultation and learn whether you have a claim today.