Having to undergo some risky and serious medical procedure is always scary. Not only will you be paying for a surgery that costs thousands of dollars, but the fact that no one can determine the chances of success is what makes this even worse. Naturally, in these moments, your doctor, the surgeon, and most of the medical staff will tell you that everything will be alright. It’s their job to make you feel comfortable before you put your life in their hands.
However, not everyone who has gone through medical school should be a surgeon or a doctor. Just because they have gone through all of the books and books regarding medicine, does not automatically make them a professional. Unfortunately, most hospitals do not have the time or the money to do background checks on every single person they hire. They just check whether they have finished all of the rights tests and the grading in the college they have gone to.
This applies to every industry in the world. Hiring the wrong people with the right diplomas can lead to irreparable mistakes. But, these mistakes in the world of medicine are much worse because they could lead to injuries, serious damage, or even death.
Doctors should always be responsible for the mistakes they make. The person that is hurt by the mistake made by the doctor should know the truth. When something like this happens, it is legally referred to as medical malpractice.
If you have believed that you are the victim of malpractice, here is a short guide for 2024 to help you understand what you should do once you get in such a situation.
Avoid contacting the hospital
Many people believe that the first thing they should do after being in a situation of malpractice is to contact the hospital. We would strongly suggest that you avoid doing this. Getting in touch with the staff at the hospital you were in should be the last thing you do.
In fact, there is a lot of evidence of previous cases that have done this before contacting their lawyer that resulted in a loss in court. The less information you share with the institute at fault, the fewer the chances they will have of winning this once they take it to court (if they decide to do that).
Keeping all of your information to yourself is important because the hospital might try to alter the documents they have about your surgery or your health, so they can save their worker from legal punishment.
Do not post on social media
One of the most common things people like to do after they have been in some kind of medical malpractice or even the most basic car accident is talking about it online.
It is vital that you avoid ranting about your unfortunate event to all of your friends on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. The information that you post can reach the institute at fault and they will use it against you. It is very important that you keep most of the things you learn about this case in secret and only share it with your lawyer and your insurance company.
Hire an attorney
Once you finally realize that you shouldn’t be sharing any of the information you know with anyone, it is time to hire an attorney that will be able to help you with this situation. A malpractice attorney not only will advise you about every step you take along the way but will also do everything in his/her power to ensure that you will win the case in court. Assuming that you are looking for an experienced lawyer on this subject, you should check out Heimberg Barr LLP.
Delay talking with your friends about the case
We know that you probably have the strongest urge to tell your best friends about the awful experience you have had with your doctor and to warn them that they should avoid visiting him. It might sound like there is no harm in doing this, but most lawyers will recommend that you stay as silent as possible. It does not matter if it is your closest friend from second grade, your brother, or even your wife.
Even the slightest leak of information could lead to compromising your case against the hospital. The institute might even notice a smaller stream of patients once you start sharing about the doctor’s malpractice. This shortage of patients will lead the institute to start an investigation of their own which could lead to evidence that could be used against you.
To put it simply, just avoid talking to anyone about your situation, until your attorney says you can.
Request your medical records from the hospital
Another reason why it is so important to keep your thoughts to yourself is the fact that you can still ask for the medical records of the surgery and the doctor’s analysis of your condition. These documents that you receive can be used by your malpractice lawyer to clearly prove the court about any wrongdoings from the doctor.
If you were to inform the medical staff about your idea to sue for malpractice they will probably start modifying or deleting all of the information they have on you. Once the information on those documents is changed, you won’t be able to use it against them.
We suggest that you first talk to your attorney about how you should approach this situation and what you should exactly ask the hospital staff to supply you with the right documents. You do not want to alert them of anything suspicious, right?
Go to another doctor
If you do manage to gather all of the documents on your condition or the surgery you went through, you can show them to another doctor and confirm the malpractice. The new doctor you hire will be able to testify for you and against the one that caused the malpractice.
By following all of these steps we mentioned above, you will surely successfully win the case.
