How Do I Sue My Doctor?

One of the most frustrating times in a person's life may be when they have been injured by her own doctor--the person who is responsible for her health and well-being. If you fall in that category, you may be wondering what you can do about it? What can you do to be compensated for your pain? How do you go about making sure the doctor fixes his mistakes?

You should gather all medical records in your possession. Write down a chronology of events that happened. Describe the medical procedure you were undergoing when the malpractice occurred. Write down everything the doctors and/or nurses said. Write down everything you said and every question you asked. Write down every bit of information you provided to your hospital or health care provider. Do all of this sooner rather than later. So much of a medical malpractice lawsuit is the records and facts you have to prove something went wrong. If you wait, you may end up forgetting the details.

You should also see a medical malpractice lawyer. The lawyer will tell you what kinds of questions you should be answering in your written statements. These statements can be important because they may give clues to your lawyer as to what evidence he should be looking for once you file your medical malpractice claim. Your statements will also tell your lawyer why he is filing the lawsuit and what you hope to recover.

The initial procedures involved in suing your doctor may differ from state to state. A knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney will be able to walk you through the process step by step. An experienced medical malpractice lawyer will also serve as your representative, an intermediary between you and your doctor, hospital or their insurance carrier. That can be an important factor in your physical and mental recovery, on the path to full health.

What Do I Need to Know for My Medical Malpractice Case?

If you have been harmed or injured by your health care provider, you may be thinking about filing a medical malpractice case. Before you file a medical malpractice lawsuit, you will have already done some initial investigation and fact gathering. Once you have actually filed is when some serious work begins.

To win your medical malpractice case, you will need to have as much information about your doctor or hospital as you can possibly have. You need to make sure all questions are asked and answered. The way you obtain information from your doctor, surgeon, hospital, or any other health care provider is by using what lawyers call medical malpractice interrogatories.

An interrogatory is a list of questions that you want someone to answer. Your list of interrogatory questions will need to be extremely thorough. Some questions you (or your lawyer, actually) might ask are: your doctor's educational background and medical background, whether your doctor has ever been sued for medical malpractice in the past, whether your doctor has ever testified as an expert in a medical malpractice lawsuit and if so on what topic did he testify, how long your doctor had been working with his team members if he was working in a team, a list of witnesses to the care he provided you, an account of his experience conducting the type of procedure he conducted on you, etc.

Of course, there are many other questions you may need to ask your doctor. An experienced medical malpractice attorney will know questions to include in the medical malpractice interrogatories. You should contact a knowledgeable medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible to give yourself the best chance at winning your medical malpractice lawsuit.

What Can I Do If My Doctor Diagnosed Me Too Late?

If you're like many people, you may have experienced a time of great stress, where you felt pain and discomfort but did not know why. You went to your doctor and to specialists who were unable to help you because they did not know what the problem was and did not know how to cure you. This only made you even more frustrated and added to your mental and emotional anguish, on top of all of your physical ailments. Then, when the doctors finally discovered your health problem, it was too late because you had already experienced too much grief. Or perhaps it was too late because your illness had progressed to a point where the doctors would be unable to make you whole again.

You may be wondering what caused the doctor's delayed diagnosis. Why had the doctors not been able to diagnose my problem earlier, on time? Did the doctors mess up? Was there something they could have done...should have done...to find out what was wrong with me when they had a chance to avoid the pain I'm experiencing now?

The only way to get the answers to these and many other questions you might have is to obtain it from doctors themselves. You need to launch an investigation to gather the information that will provide you with the answers.

To best way to find the answers is to have a lawyer do it for you. A medical malpractice lawyer will know the right questions to ask to obtain the information. How long did it take for the primary physician to refer you to a specialist? Did the specialist have all the information she needed to make a proper analysis? Was there some test the doctors skipped that would have given them the answer early on? All these questions relate to the historical facts. They are the "What happened?" questions.

Once your lawyer gets these factual questions answered, the next step is to find out what should have happened. To get answers to these questions, a lawyer needs to speak with an expert in the specific medical field to which your ailment relates. If your late medical diagnosis related to podiatry, then your lawyer may need to speak with an expert and experienced podiatrist. Or he may need to speak to a phlebotomist, neurosurgeon, or dermatologist. Only an expert can tell you whether or not your doctor actually acted appropriately, or if your doctor did in fact screw up, and that screw up led to your delayed diagnosis.

Delayed diagnosis is a form of medical malpractice. If you are concerned that you be suffering from medical malpractice, you should speak with a knowledgeable medical malpractice attorney right away. You deserve to have your questions answered.