Medical Malpractice - Can I Sue My Doctor?

It is the legal duty of all doctors to provide proper and adequate health care to their patients. They are legally allowed to refuse to take a new patient, whether due to personal reason or a clinical disagreement with a patient. However, if a doctor has accepted a patient, then he/she can not turn away that patient.

Patients have a legal right to get appropriate medical treatment. If the doctors do not or can not provide proper medical care, then it amounts to medical malpractice-for which patients can rightfully sue their doctors. We will look at three areas of malpractice in this article.

Negligence

Negligence is a major type of medical malpractice. A doctor can be sued for negligence if she fails to provide you with the kind of medical care that any reasonable, qualified doctor would give you in those particular circumstances.

If she does not meet that standard of competence, care and conduct, then you can legally sue her. If you suffer an injury or disease due to the negligence of your doctor, then she may be legally bound to pay you.

A doctor can not put forth any excuses, such as, "I did the best I could." If she fails to act reasonably, then she may have to pay her liability.

Failure to obtain informed consent from a patient

Failing to get informed consent from the patient before administering medical treatment is another type of medical malpractice. Sometimes it may also be considered an assault.

A doctor must inform you about your medical condition. You have a right to know the nature and details of the treatment recommended by your doctor. Unless you are well-informed about the tests and procedures involved, you are not in a position to give your consent to the treatment.

A doctor is not required to explain each and every risk, but she must disclose the risks relevant to your consent for the treatment.

A doctor is legally obligated to obtain your informed consent before starting your treatment. Informed consent means you consent to the treatment only when you are well acquainted with the nature of the medical procedure, risks involved and other possible options.

If the doctor does not follow this guideline, then she can be sued for medical malpractice. However, you can only sue your doctor if the lack of informed consent results in medical problems. Otherwise, your doctor will not be liable to you.

Patient-doctor Contracts

The third kind of medical malpractice is breaking the contract between patient and doctor. This is a recent addition to the list of medical malpractice. You must discuss with your lawyer how the abovementioned contract is related to your medical services plan.

If you are a victim of medical malpractice: what you should know

You need to speak with a personal injury/medical malpractice lawyer right away. They are experts at this sort of thing and know how to handle hospital administrations and insurance companies, you don't.

Don't sign anything! The hospital or doctor's office may want you to sign a "release" of some sort as a "routine thing" they do in these types of situation, don't sign it, and bring it to your lawyer.

A medical malpractice action must be brought to court within two years of the alleged act. Act quickly before the witnesses start to forget the events. It will cost you nothing to speak with a lawyer; not doing so is foolishness,

One final comment

Some people may be reluctant to bring a suit against a family doctor they have known for years and maybe even interact with socially, this is understandable. The truth is you have been insured by this person and deserve to be treated with respect and compensated for your injuries. Your doctor has insurance; this is why they have it!

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Should I Sue My Doctor?

The family doctor, or general practitioner (GP), is part of the fabric of life in the UK, nearly everyone has one and they have likely had the same one for many years. Indeed, it is common for a doctor to know a patient from birth right through to old age.

Doctors or GPs become confidantes, friends in some cases, and in smaller communities are essential for everyone. So when one makes a mistake in your diagnosis or treatment and you are entitled to make a claim for compensation due to their medical negligence all sorts of moral questions arise.

Suing a doctor is not an easy decision to make, especially when they are close to you and your family. On the one hand, you are not going to want to upset or hurt your GP and friend, you aren't going to want to cost them money or damage their reputation. But at the same time, you could have suffered longer than you needed to or seen a condition get worse due to your doctor's mistake and you are, by law, entitled to compensation.

Every case is different and every person is different. Some will have no qualms in trying to get what they are due in the form of compensation, others will feel that the suffering they caused is not so bad that they wish to sue their doctor and others still will feel they suffered greatly and will reluctantly make a claim in order to receive the financial support they now need.

It is up to the individual to make a decision on whether to sue a GP or not based on their own individual circumstances, but if the decision is taken to proceed with a claim, then seeking professional, specialist help is a must.

Cases such as this, while delicate, are also complex matters and a specialised medical negligence solicitor is the ideal person or company to contact in order to make sure your claim is valid and will succeed. Many such solicitors exist and, if you are worried about the cost of going to court, offer no win, no fee and legal aid services.

In order to find a solicitor you can trust it is worth asking family and friends for personal recommendations, but if they don't have experience of a medical negligence specialist then searching the internet for "medical negligence solicitors manchester" and reading online reviews is an acceptable alternative.

The important thing is that, once having taken the difficult decision to sue your doctor, you feel comfortable with the individual or company that will represent you and plead your case in court.

Depending on the nature of the medical negligence and the suffering caused, medical negligence compensation can be in the tens or hundreds of thousands - for many, this is reason enough to pursue a claim against their doctor and is certainly motivation to find a good, trustworthy solicitor.

It is also worth remembering that your doctor will have insurance against this sort of thing and so is unlikely to be left out of pocket by your compensation claim.

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