Medical Negligence Lawyers
This website has been compiled to help you find out more about how medical negligence lawyers can help you recover compensation for medical errors or even for substandard service. If your health has suffered as a result of the negligence of a medical professional, you should seek legal advice from medical negligence lawyers to determine your eligibility to claim compensation.
Taking legal action to recover compensation for medical errors can be a daunting prospect. Many victims of medical negligence are nervous about contacting medical negligence lawyers for advice and are worried about the costs of litigation. While legal action can be expensive, there are options available to victims of medical negligence such as funding through the Community Legal Service fund or even with conditional fee arrangements offered by some medical negligence lawyers.
Taking legal action is an alien concept for many people, and few are aware of the procedures which need to be followed or even the criteria which need to be met in order to make a claim for compensation. Seeking advice from medical negligence lawyers will answer any questions you may have about the legal process, your eligibility to claim and the likely outcome of a claim for medical negligence compensation.
We aim to help you find the best medical negligence lawyers to maximise your chances of winning compensation, and offer important advice about making a claim against a medical professional to recover compensation for any pain, suffering or loss.
Obtaining Compensation for Injuries Caused by Medical Negligence
No amount of compensation can ever make up for any loss of amenity or pain caused by a medical professional; however obtaining your full entitlement to medical negligence compensation should help you to live more comfortably with your injuries and continue with the rest of your life. Although doctors, nurses and surgeons are committed to helping their patients, they are human and can therefore make mistakes. When such a mistake causes you pain, suffering or affects the quality of life, it is your legal right to claim medical negligence compensation.
The expert advice of medical negligence lawyers will help you to get a full and fair compensation settlement, which will be sufficient to cover the full recovery period and will allow you to have a lifetime of proper care for your injuries.
Medical Negligence in the USA
In the USA we are blessed with one of the best healthcare systems of any country in the world, and the level of medical care that is provided is generally of a very high standard. Doctors, nurses and surgeons are trained to a very high standard, are usually highly experienced and are able to provide a high level of medical care.
Although the vast majority of illnesses and injuries are treated within an acceptable time frame and to a high standard, there are occasions when procedures go wrong or unforeseen complications arise. The human body is not a machine, and health problems do not always occur in text book fashion. Doctors are required to make judgments, educated guesses and decide on the correct treatment plan from a number of possible alternatives.
There may be many different treatments for any one condition, and while a doctor may choose one which is perhaps a little unconventional, it does not necessarily amount to medical negligence if the treatment fails. Compensation can only be claimed if it can be proven that “on the balance of probabilities”, that a competent medical professional would have been able to diagnose or treat a condition in an acceptable time frame, and that your injuries, pain, suffering or loss of amenity could, and should have, been avoided.
Any procedure can involve a risk to a patient, but where is the line drawn between a genuine risk of injury from a procedure and an injury caused by negligence? Often it is difficult to determine this without the help of experienced medical negligence lawyers or extensive medical training.
The Importance of Using Medical Negligence Lawyers
Medical negligence lawyers can be invaluable when determining if that line has been crossed and a medical professional has been negligent. Procedures often fail due to no fault of any doctor or surgeon, and complications can arise which no competent medical professional could have foreseen. Medical negligence lawyers are well aware of the difficulties in treating illnesses, and also when an injury is one caused by negligence. After listening to a personal account and asking the right questions, medical negligence lawyers can determine whether a medical negligence victim is eligible to claim compensation, and if there has in fact been negligence.
As with any claim for personal injury compensation, there is a legal time frame in which the claim must be initiated – usually 3 years from the date of the injury. Since evidence of negligence needs to be collected and a claim fully assessed before it is possible to issue proceedings, and obtaining this can take time, it is vital that medical negligence lawyers are contacted as soon as medical negligence is suspected. This will ensure that a medical negligence claim can be initiated within the correct legal time frame.
Medical negligence claims are often highly complicated, long winded and are strongly defended. It is because of this that most claims pursued without representation by medical negligence lawyers do not succeed.
Obtaining Evidence to Support Medical Negligence Claims
Following an initial assessment, medical negligence lawyers will help a claimant prove that a doctor has acted inappropriately and has failed in a duty of care to a patient. Before proceedings can be issued and the relevant medical professionals contacted, it is usually necessary for a victim of medical negligence to make a formal complaint. The NHS complaints procedure has been set up to allow patients to complain and obtain an explanation of any action or inaction which is believed to have caused or contributed to poor health. The procedure ensures that action can be taken against any medical professional who is believed to have made an error of judgment that has caused a patient harm.
Medical negligence lawyers will offer advice on making a NHS complaint, which is usually the first step in obtaining evidence of medical negligence. The NHS will be given time to investigate the complaint, contact the relevant medical professionals, and provide an explanation to the victim.
The medical community is keen to minimise legal claims and litigation, and the response given may indicate that nothing untoward has happened, or that a medical professional as acted appropriately. This should not be taken that there is no chance of making a claim, and medical negligence lawyers should be contacted to discuss any response. You should remember that NHS complaints procedure has been set up to prevent legal claims, and an admission of negligence is unlikely to be forthcoming.
If you have made a complaint against a medical professional, are not happy with the response and believe that a medical professional or institution has been negligent, it is vital that you seek advice from medical negligence lawyers about the next steps to take.
Making a Claim Using Medical Negligence Lawyers
The first step that medical negligence lawyers will take is to document all aspects of the injuries and circumstances surrounding how they were obtained. Every detail that can be remembered will be included in a written proof, and this will then be used to draft a claims letter. A claims letter will be sent to all parties who are believed to have been negligent, and will detail the injuries and why a defendant is believed to have been at fault. In strong cases, the claims letter may also include an invitation to settle the case before litigation is started through the courts. All defendants will be given three months to respond to the letter and to defend the allegations made against them.
Although it is not necessary to use medical negligence lawyers to draft a claims letter, it will certainly result in the claim being given the serious consideration that it deserves and will alert those concerned that the matter requires their full and immediate attention.
Medical Negligence Lawyers are Experts in Obtaining Compensation
Medical negligence lawyers are highly experienced in pursuing claims for compensation due to medical errors, and are able to accurately calculate an appropriate compensation figure. Compensation needs to accurately cover such intangible concepts as pain and suffering, and medical negligence lawyers will use complex calculations and previous court precedents to arrive at an appropriate medical negligence compensation figure.
Loss of amenity will be factored into any claim, together with past and future medical costs, loss of earnings and even any increased chance of developing future health problems as a result of any injury. Experience in dealing with medical professionals and a thorough working knowledge of litigation laws will help victims of medical negligence get their full entitlement to compensation.
Medical Negligence Lawyers Offer Advice on Financing Claims
Unfortunately, the services of medical negligence lawyers are not free of charge, and making a claim for compensation due to medical negligence can be costly. Some medical negligence lawyers may be able to take on a case on a conditional fee arrangement, such as with a No Win No Fee service, although this is rare with medical negligence claims.
Victims of medical negligence are often placed under severe financial stress due to treatment costs, mobility problems and the cost of home help. As such, the legal costs of medical negligence compensation claims may not be financially viable. In such cases, medical negligence lawyers will help a medical negligence victim obtain funding through the Community Legal Service Fund.
Contacting Our Medical Negligence Lawyers
Our medical negligence lawyers speak plain English and understand that most people do not have a law degree and do therefore not understand legal jargon. Legal procedures will be explained without resorting to technical vocabulary unless it is absolutely necessary, and are happy to explain anything that you do not understand. They appreciate that legal action is a totally alien concept to many people and will do everything they can to ensure that a potential client fully understands everything that is involved.
Our medical negligence lawyers will be sympathetic to your situation, and will treat you with empathy and compassion. Before a decision can be made about pursuing legal action, you need to be provided with all the information about what is involved, the costs you will be liable for, and the chances of success. Only then can you make an informed decision on whether you should proceed with legal action to recover compensation for your injuries.