When you are injured by a medical professional, your first thought might be to find out what options you have to get revenge. While this is perfectly understandable, you need to ensure that you are taking the appropriate steps so that you can hold the medical professional accountable for what happened.
First, you need to make the medical professional aware of what is going on. This might seem counterproductive, but it is actually a good idea since it might help you to learn about what went wrong with your care. Knowing what happened, at least from the liable party’s stance, might help you as you proceed.
Next, you need to contact the medical board or licensing authority. You might find that the doctor has more than one party that you need to contact. In some cases, you will contact the state board and other organizations that have issued a certification for the medical professional.
Once you contact the appropriate boards and authorities, you can have your case evaluated to determine if you have a claim. In some cases, you might find that at this point, you are able to file your claim.
As your claim moves through the court system, you will have to make decisions. One of these is whether you are going to accept a settlement or not. This is a big decision because you can’t come back and ask for more money later if you didn’t settle for enough to cover all of your expenses. With this in mind, think carefully about what you need now and in the future.
Source: FindLaw, “First Steps in a Medical Malpractice Case,” accessed April 14, 2017