When you need medical care, you tend to rely on doctors whether it’s your primary care physician or a referred specialist to manage your health in the best way possible. You trust doctors to advise you about your health condition, medication, and routine care. However, there may be times when that trust is broken due to negligence. When medical mistakes or negligence occurs while you or a loved one is receiving medical care, the consequences can be devastating sometimes resulting in death or a lifelong debilitating condition.
Take Action Immediately
Medical malpractice can occur in numerous ways. Doctors can fail to fulfill their fiduciary duty when you or a loved one’s condition worsens after treatment. Some of the most common incidences include:
- Failure to diagnose a condition in the early stages
- Prescribing the wrong medication
- Performing a surgical procedure on the wrong body part
- Failure to administer treatment in a timely manner
A doctor may be aware of his or her negligence and may deny any involvement. When this occurs— especially after you have spoken with the doctor about the situation — don’t leave you or your loved one’s medical situation left to uncertainty. A medical malpractice lawyer can evaluate your situation and inform you about the potential legal outcome.
Understand Your Legal Rights
It’s easy to feel intimidated when you don’t understand medical terms and procedures. Sometimes patients are not thoroughly informed about what to expect from their doctors and why some medical treatments don’t work.
One of the rights that most patients are familiar with regarding medical care is privacy rights. While this protection of privacy is important, you also have the right to receive excellent medical care. If you think that you or your loved one’s patient rights have been violated by means of medical malpractice, a lawyer, like a personal injury lawyer Minneapolis MN trusts, may be able to file a lawsuit on your behalf.
The Legal Process
If your case is accepted, an investigation will be conducted to evaluate medical records, medical protocol, and other pertinent information to determine the factors that may have caused an injury or death. During your initial consultation, you will be informed about how you can assist in the process such as submitting requested documents in a timely manner and attending legal sessions when required.
Since medical malpractice situations can create unexpected medical expenses, it is important to speak with a medical malpractice lawyer about filing a claim against the negligent doctor or medical organization. The earlier you begin the legal process, the closer you may be to receiving an explanation regarding why the medical malpractice situation occurred and who was at fault.
Although medical mistakes cannot always be prevented, help is available when these unfortunate situations change the course of victims’ lives. The pain and suffering that victims are left to contend with cannot be erased, especially when death or a chronic condition is the result of medical negligence. Personal injury compensation may help to ease the burden of physical and mental trauma from a medical mistake.
Thanks to our friends and contributors from Johnston Martineau PLLP for their insight into personal injury practice.
