Typical Medical Malpractice Legal Issues
Where law and medicine intersect, your lawyer stands in the breach. As a patient you want and need quallity medical care and treatment, particularly for those injuries which are serious or may become so in the absence thereof. As a injured party seeking financial compensation along with a measure of justice, the importance of medical documentation is the primary tool which your lawyer may use to accomplish this.
At trial before anything else, properly admitted medical record evidence is often the most crucial part of the task. The medical record is often powerful evidence of an injury's occurence both from the standpoint of its timing,causation and magnitude. Months and sometimes years after memory of the actual events have faded in the minds of those involved the medical record remains as direct evidence. The reasons for the medical care, symptoms being experienced and objective findings of your physicians may make an strong impression on the Court/Jury.
With that in mind, it is generally your task to seek out prompt and competent care where you can find it and to do so in a timely and consistent manner. It is your lawyer's task to obtain, comprehend and at times discuss with you the implications of what is being recorded in those medical records. In all cases of serious injury, litigation is contemplated at the outset although not necesarily instituted immediately for various reasons. However, medical and sometimes non-physician experts should be obtained to consult, review and guide the scientific and technical aspects of the case developments.
Your lawyer must strive to maintain good communication channels with you, your physicians and consulting experts, while coordinating the process as it unfolds. The persisting inquiries which must be adequately explored, supported and documented are obvious and yet sometimes easy to overlook:
- What happened and why?
- What could have been done differently or not done at all which would have likely avoided your harm?
- Who are all the persons/legal entities which may be legally responsible for some or all of your injury?
- Are you doing or have you done all that is reasonable to minimize the impact of your injury?
- Have you provided your lawyer with all the facts and circumstances known to you and those whom you believe may have additional info?
- Have your goals and expectations been addressed bearing in mind the often evolving nature of your medical and vocational progress following the injury?