Sometimes clients or friends are concerned about the morals of filing a medical malpractice claim. They’re afraid malpractice cases are frivolous or hurt doctors and the health care industry so much that they shouldn’t be pursued.
This is a reasonable question. After all, doctors do pay a lot for medical malpractice insurance, and a malpractice claim could damage their practice and cause them a lot of anguish.
In understanding the right and wrong of filing medical malpractice claims, there are a few things to keep in mind:
Bad cases get thrown out.
In many states, you have to prove your case is legitimate through expert testimony. No one – doctors, insurance companies, judges, and juries included – like to see medical malpractice claims in which the doctor clearly wasn’t at fault. If a person files a frivolous claim, there’s a very good chance it won’t make its way through the system for very long.
The type of injury matters.
You should only file a malpractice claim if your doctor made a serious error. For example, a lot of people want to sue over not being treated kindly by a physician or her staff. That’s not enough of a reason to pursue a malpractice claim. Considering the seriousness and expense of filing a malpractice claim, you really should only pursue it if the error or wrongdoing caused life-changing, severe damage.
Your attorney matters.
Our law firm has a good relationship with doctors all over the area. We don’t file frivolous lawsuits or hurt physicians out of spite. We only take cases in which a grievous injury has occurred. Other attorneys, hospitals, and judges respect our work and trust that we simply want justice in every situation.
Sometimes medical malpractice is the only option.
Say a doctor’s mistake permanently paralyzes you, or causes a child to lose his hearing. Say it leads to amputation or blindness. These are long-term, devastating injuries that will cost you for the rest of your life. If no one helps pay for them, a mistake that wasn’t your fault could financially destroy you – not to mention the mental and emotional damage involved. In these extreme cases, medical malpractice is the justice system’s way of ensuring victims are taken care of and repaid for their losses. A good medical malpractice lawyer Memphis, TN trusts, like the attorneys at Darrell Castle & Associates, will fight for patients and their families to get compensation.
So while medical malpractice is very serious, and not always the right choice, it’s certainly not wrong in and of itself.
If you think you’ve been the victim of malpractice, contact me to discuss your situation at no charge. As a medical malpractice attorney in Memphis, I can help you determine if you have a case, and how to proceed if you do.