Medical Malpractice is basically when a health care practitioner fails to perform their medical responsibilities and provide proper treatment. This can be providing bad treatment or taking an inappropriate action that causes harm to a patient. But before a patient can file for medical, certain basic requirements must be met. Let’s dive into it.
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Existence Of A Relationship Between You And The Doctor
The first and most important requirement you need to meet to file a medical malpractice bill is to provide proof of a relationship between you and the doctor in question. Here, you must have hired the doctor and the must-have agreed to be hired. For example, you cannot sue a doctor you overheard advising someone else. Get your medical malpractice attorney here.
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Proof Of Negligence
Before you can file for medical malpractice, another requirement is proof that the doctor was negligent in treating you. Therefore, you cannot sue a doctor because you were not happy with the treatment given to you. To file for medical malpractice, you must prove that the doctor gave you treatment that a competent doctor would not give.
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Proof Of Injury
Another requirement to file for medical malpractice is to show that the doctor’s negligence caused your injuries. Most medical malpractice bills involve people that were already sick before meeting the doctor. It is sometimes hard to prove that the doctor’s negligence caused your injury. For example, if a patient dies after receiving treatment for liver cancer, it would be hard that the doctor’s negligence caused the death and not the liver cancer.
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Injury Led To Damages
You just also be able to show that the injury led to damages. It may be clear that the doctor gave substandard treatment but if there were no damages then you may not be able to sue. Examples of damages here are physical pain, mental distress, lost work, or even extra medical bills. You may not be able to file a medical malpractice claim if you were not harmed.
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Evidence
Evidence is very useful to file for medical malpractice. Medical bills are substantial evidence that can be used to show the amount lost to cater for the damages. Statements from medical professionals will also help to prove the extent of your injuries.
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Notice Requirement
It is also required that the doctor is informed or given a notice of the malpractice claim. This can be just a basic description of the claim. This has to be done before filing anything.
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Certificate
All states except Washington require a certificate of merit for medical malpractice bills. This certificate holds the statement of an expert in the same medical field as the accused doctor showing that the doctor was negligent in his treatment.
Medical Malpractice laws may be very complicated and may also vary from state to state. Therefore, it is advisable to seek the advice of a lawyer or hire a lawyer to represent you. Your lawyer will help you determine if what happened was medical malpractice or there is an alternative step you can take.
