What is a Medical Error?
A medical error occurs due to the negligence of medical practitioners, nursing staff, or drug store pharmacists.
Medical error can be the wrong administration of a dose or the wrong medical procedure.
Sometimes, the practitioner prescribes medicine that is allergic to the patient and has adverse impacts on the health.
In relation to surgical procedures, medical error is when a certain procedure is not followed as per standard surgical policies.
So, it leaves the patient with an injury or illness. In certain cases, wrongful death may also occur due to medical error.
Nursing staff can also commit a medical error. The nursing staff is responsible for administering the correct and exact amount of medicine/dosage as per a doctor’s directives.
If the nursing staff administers the wrong dosage or incorrect amount of medicine, this is a sheer medical error on the nursing staff.
Paramedical staff may also commit negligence in duties which may lead to the health deterioration of the patients.
Pharmacists may misinterpret the prescription of the doctor. The wrong medication provided by the pharmacist may cause allergic reactions or injury to the patient.
All of the cases mentioned above come under the concept of medical error or medical malpractice.
The patient is at the receiving end of the damage or loss caused due to medical malpractice by any medical professionals.
What Can You Do If You Are The Victim of a Medical Error?
The effects of medical error can be short-lived, or they may even scale up to lifetime disability. Any injury or medical problem caused due to the negligence of medical practitioners, paramedical staff, or pharmacists is liable for legal action.
The most important thing here is to file a lawsuit at the earliest after realizing that you are a victim of medical error.
Filing the lawsuit at the earliest is of paramount importance. If you get late, the effects of medical error may reduce with time. Resultantly, you will not be able to get the highest compensation.
Medical error is not a human error that is categorized as a mistake. Rather, it is criminal negligence. The person who has suffered a medical error must report it immediately and take appropriate action by filing a lawsuit.
A victim of medical error has the right to get full compensation for any damages incurred during malpractice.
All the scenarios mentioned above come under the criminal negligence of medical error.
If you face any of these issues, there should be no second thought coming to your mind for filing a lawsuit against it. Compensation is obtained by filing a lawsuit in the criminal justice court.
How To File a Lawsuit for Medical Error?
Filing a lawsuit seems like a hectic task. This is because such lawsuits involve a lot of paperwork and other documentation essential for court proceedings.
A lawsuit in regards to medical error needs the help of the concerned medical practitioner. In most cases, if the medical professional unintentionally commits a medical error, they will likely cooperate with you in legal proceedings.
The involvement of medical professionals in the lawsuit will improve the chances of getting compensation for it at the earliest. In some cases, the medical professional declines to take part in the lawsuit process.
This is where you have to take stern action as per law against the concerned medical official.
Make sure to have your medical assessment done before filing a lawsuit regarding medical malpractice.
A complete medical examination highlighting all your health issues and losses caused as a result of medical error will give a boost to your lawsuit, and it is a must in every case.
Once you file a lawsuit, the court will issue notice to the concerned medical institution and officials to participate in legal proceedings and respond and cooperate with the investigation process.
Moreover, before moving to the court on your own, you can also seek assistance from the medical regulatory board.
Medical malpractice is strongly condemned and discouraged throughout the world by every medical regulatory board.
These regulatory bodies have special teams who take part in filing lawsuits whenever a case of medical error or medical malpractice emerges.
Therefore, in addition to filing a lawsuit, it is also advisable to contact the concerned medical regulatory body to take action against the accused medical institute and medical professional.
They may also follow up on your case proceedings to better assist you and ensure your rightful compensation.
Once you are done with the legal steps above, contact any law firm specializing in handling medical error/malpractice cases. Let them know of the case details and provide them with the complete documentation of your medical assessment.
Bringing the law firm and the medical regulatory body on the same page will prove helpful in filing a lawsuit.
This will provide a combination of legal support with the backing of medical professionals as an abutment arm.
In some cases, the patients do not have the medical documents of the treatment they got.
This is because they might have suffered the impacts of medical errors after some time. These types of clients hesitate while filing a lawsuit.
The reason for hesitation is that they feel they cannot claim or get compensation if they do not have the medical prescriptions anymore.
However, filing your lawsuit as per the methodology discussed above won’t be much hassle.
What Is the Right Course of Action After Filing a Lawsuit?
Following up on the case after filing a lawsuit is of sheer importance. Please note that the legal process is not a matter of a few days.
It takes time to prove the validity of your lawsuit in the court of justice. So, patience is the topmost attribute required after you have filed a lawsuit.
It is also of significant importance to understand that most victims give up at a very early stage.
They do not keep up with the time taken to manage the legal proceedings. Holding up with the time is part and parcel in the process of having a lawsuit against a medical error.
The ultimate goal is to get the complete and deserving compensation. The lawsuit never gets resolved overnight.
So, it takes some time. Have faith in your malpractice lawyers and the law, and have patience.
The future course of action of the lawsuit also depends on your proactive approach and continuous contact with your law firm.
If the victim is not proactive in getting their lawsuit resolved, the law firms do not heed their concern, and the matter lingers on consequently in most cases.
You also have to stay up to date regarding court proceedings and the case progress.
Expert testimony is the main supporting pillar in the lawsuit regarding medical error or malpractice.
Expert testimony, in this case, would be the help from any other medical professional or the medical regulatory body who can medically testify the damage caused to you.
Hence, contact the medical board or any medical institution for a complete and thorough medical examination.
Once they examine you, they will get to know all the damages and repercussions of medical errors.
Based on the medical assessment, the expert testimony will prove vital in the court proceedings for getting the desired compensation against the medical error.
The complainant must know all the options after filing the lawsuit. The law firm will fight the case on your behalf but according to your desired outcomes.
Therefore, you must know all the options and outcomes of the lawsuit and should communicate the desired option to the law firm.
Usually, the type of compensation is either monetary compensation or medical treatment to rectify the damage caused by medical error.
The to-do list in the post-filing of the lawsuit is documentation. A legal proceeding is documented at every step and every court hearing.
Being a victim, you should have all the progress and case-related copies of the documents at hand.
The law firms usually provide ample assistance and the required documentation. If not, you can still demand it from them.
After filing a lawsuit, if you take the matter up with the police, it will also be the icing on the cake. The police will separately investigate the matter, and the law firm will take its course.
The amalgamation of the outcomes from both the law firm and the police will be extremely beneficial in court proceedings.
Why Should You Trust Our Malpractice Lawyers?
In a nutshell, if you face a personal injury at the hands of any medical institute or any medical professional, file a lawsuit at the earliest without having any second thoughts.
Medical error is discouraged everywhere around the world. Therefore, most people, in this case, will rise to the mark to assist you.
One of the most reputable law firms in this type of case is the Serious Injury Law Group. They take up the matter with diligence and have all the required experience to handle medical error cases.
They offer a free initial consultation to chalk out the plan and options for the lawsuit. If you want to go with their medical malpractice services, contact them now for a free consultation.