Monday, January 23, 2012

Why A Personal Injury Lawyer Might Turn Down A Medical Malpractice Case: Key Reasons

Oatley Vigmond, experienced medical malpractice lawyers in Toronto
It is common wisdom that one’s health is the most important thing.  When this is taken away due to negligence, many patients are not sure how to proceed in attaining their life back. Medical malpractice attorneys, such as Oatley Vigmond, can help those who have suffered personal injury and therefore are in need of some form of compensation.  Click here for more details.

Medical expenses are the number one contributor to the high debt levels of individuals living in the United States today.   With so much on the line and with so much money being spent, it's understandable that patients would expect the utmost care, expertise, and precision from their health care provider. When this is not provided, if something goes wrong, or if a health care provider is negligent, there can be devastating consequences for the patient.  In these cases, medical malpractice lawyers can help by representing patients in civil court. A malpractice suit can certainly help an affected person by helping with the drastic financial outcomes that come from botched medical practice.

Medical malpractice suits have come under fire recently as a result of rising insurance premiums.  Because of this, many attorneys will not take just any case that comes their way. There has to be sufficient proof of wrongdoing or negligence on the part of the health care provider. In an effort to convince a judge or jury and prove wrongdoing in court, many attorneys make use of expert testimony. In order to establish a provider’s liability, an expert must testify that no other reasonable medical provider would do what the sued party did. The expert also needs to establish in their testimony that the actions of the provider with the direct cause of injury or death. Some attorneys may reject cases if too much time has elapsed since an incident in line with the statute of limitations law established in the particular state of the legal action. A malpractice attorney will discuss his or her reasons for taking or rejecting a case when it is brought up to them. Another, yet less common, reason for refusing to represent a client may be the age of the patient at the time of the negligent practice.   Generally speaking, large settlements aren't awarded to near death individuals because the damages would not be applicable to a reduced quality of life or career.

Here's a recap of the three major reasons a lawyer will reject a malpractice case:

• Insufficient evidence of wrongdoing
• Time elapsed is too great according to statute of limitations
• Age of patient

With that all being said, fear of rejection should not deter anyone who has been the victim of medical malpractice from seeking representation and possible compensation for damages. Health care providers are held to a extremely high standard by society, as they really should be, and it's also important that those who are not living up to these standards are identified and reprimanded.

No comments:

Post a Comment