When people visit a medical professional, they have reason to believe that they will receive competent care, and in most cases they do. Unfortunately, there can be situations where something goes terribly wrong, and your health may be negatively effected. In most cases, medical malpractice is caused by negligence on the part of the medical professional. If you suspect that you have been the victim of medical malpractice, take the following steps:
Contact the Health Care Provider
In most cases, medical professionals did not mean to cause harm or provide a poor level of care, and they are often eager to help fix the situation. Prior to filing a claim for medical malpractice, it is in your best interest to visit your medical provider to see if they can recognize the mistake that was made and provide adequate treatment to fix the issue.
Get in Touch with Your State's Medical Licensing Board
Medical professionals must be licensed in the state that they work in in order to offer any kind of treatment. If speaking with your heal care provider did not fix the issue, you can get in touch with your state's medical licensing board. They may investigate your case and issue disciplinary action against your health care provider. In some cases, a doctor or hospital will voluntarily offer financial compensation to a victim of alleged medical malpractice after the state licensing board becomes involved.
Hire a Medical Malpractice Attorney
If your health care provider is not cooperating with you and refuses to take any responsibility for their malpractice, you may have no choice than to file a lawsuit. In order to do this, you will need to be represented by a medical malpractice attorney. Your attorney will be able to review your claim, determine if you have a case, and arrange for expert witnesses.
Get a Medical Assessment
In many states, people are required to file a certificate of merit before a medical malpractice case can go to court. In order to get this certificate, you will need to go see a physician not involved in the case for an exam. After a physical exam and a thorough review of your medical records, a certificate of merit will be issued, which means that the independent physician has cause to believe that your health care provider deviated from the practices of care that are standard. Your attorney will file the certificate of merit before the case goes to court.
Share15 June 2017
