At Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen, we understand that being the subject of a medical malpractice case is a significant commitment and can take an emotional and physical toll on your life.
However, if you were in fact harmed as a result of a medical error or other forms of healthcare negligence, hiring a medical malpractice attorney can be the first step in obtaining the justice you deserve.
Before pursuing a case, it’s important that you know the following information.
How Do I Know If I Have a Medical Malpractice Case?
Before beginning an investigation, it’s essential to understand what qualifies as a medical malpractice incident to begin with. The following are key indicators:
- Wrongdoing: Simply put, a hospital or medical provider has a duty to follow a relevant standard of care when treating a patient. That party has done something wrong when they fail to provide or deviate from an accepted standard of care. Examples of wrongdoing by medical professionals include misdiagnosis, wrong-site surgery, medication errors, and more.
- Damages: Typically, a medical malpractice incident occurs when that hospital or medical provider’s wrongdoing results in damages. Damages include physical damage, emotional distress, and mental damage, with consequences such as scarring and disfigurement, loss of enjoyment for life, emotional distress, and more.
- Responsible Party: The ability to identify the party that is responsible for your incident is essential to pursuing a viable medical malpractice case. Furthermore, it’s also important to determine whether that wrongdoer can provide recourse for the injustice you and your loved ones endured. For more information on what you can expect after winning a medical malpractice lawsuit, please visit this page.
To learn about the legal definitions discussed above and more, please reference our medical malpractice legal glossary.
If I Think I Have a Case, Where Do I Start?
If these above factors are present, you likely have a medical malpractice case that’s worth pursuing. In order to determine your right to a recovery, you should begin searching for the right attorney to maximize the effectiveness of your claim.
According to a 2016 study led by the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, medical errors are now the third leading cause of death in the United States behind heart disease and cancer. This unfortunate reality has created a legal environment where there are countless lawyers available to take your case.
There are four important questions you should ask, which can also be read about here, to help you choose the best lawyer possible:
- Does the lawyer have a proven track record?
- Do they have a deep understanding of medical malpractice law?
- Can their law firm handle the medical malpractice pre-suit process?
- Does their law firm have an appropriate stable of experts?
Once you’ve determined the best medical malpractice lawyer for your claim, taking action can greatly assist their discovery efforts. We recommend to do the following:
- Document Your Interactions: Because memories fade and records can be lost, it’s very important to document your interactions with medical professionals as soon as you were a victim of medical malpractice. These could potentially be crucial for your attorney and help your case move forward.
- Request Your Medical Records: Likewise, medical records from your healthcare provider will most likely be vital to your case. These are simple to access and can be acquired by providing the patient’s name to the records department of the medical facility where care was received.
A more detailed post on all the steps that go into the pre-trial phase of a medical malpractice investigation can be found here.
Despite the information shared in this post, the ultimate answer to whether you should pursue a medical malpractice case ultimately depends on you, your circumstances, and your willingness to participate in a process that could take years to reach a conclusion.
But, if you are seeking representation for a medical malpractice claim, know that the attorneys at Grossman Roth Yaffa Cohen will work to move your case along as efficiently as possible, so you can attain recovery and continue with your life.
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