FAQs about slip-and-fall personal injury lawsuits

What should I do first after my accident?

Details and memories fade over time, so photograph the scene and any relevant damages as soon as possible. Also, jot down any events shortly before and after the accident, like medical attention, time stuck at home, or new bills.

If anyone else was around to see what happened, try to get their name and contact information. If and when you discuss the event with them, write down notes of what they say so you can convey the most detailed image possible to the court.

What questions might I be asked in court?

  1. They may want to know:
  2. Your past illnesses and injuries.
  3. The gap of time between the incident and the last time you received medical attention previously.
  4. Your professional history.
  5. Whether you’ve ever been a plaintiff or defendant in a similar case before.

These questions can help clarify how inevitable your injury really was, based on your personal habits and nature.

Will I need to pay medical before the investigation is complete?

Normally, they’ll agree to wait at least until you’ve returned to good health. Medical facilities often accept a document called a “letter of protection”, which authorizes full treatment with no up-front payments.

If you lose your case, all the expenses from treatment are your own responsibility. However, either way you most likely won’t be obligated to pay anything before they’re done tending to you.

What is informed consent? How can it affect your medical malpractice case?

“Sounds good?” “Would you like that?” “Is that OK?” “How’s that sound?” “What do you think?” These are very common questions. Whether it’s to simply avoid a future confrontation or to show another person respect, people often ask others questions like these to ensure their ideas sound wise enough to other individuals.

It’s standard practice for doctors to do the same thing. In the medical industry, this is called informed consent. The concept of informed consent is that the more educated a patient is about how a certain treatment works and how it can affect them, the more confidently they can decide whether it’s right for them.

Before treating a patient, it is standard for the physician to explain in great detail what they believe is the best way to address the condition in question, outlining the process of the recommended action and any possible side effects.

The patient—unless they are younger than “consent age” or somehow are mentally unable to make an informed choice, in which case someone else must decide—will then be asked to determine for themselves whether it should be done. If they accept, a document confirming awareness of the risks is usually given for signature.

There are a couple conditions under which physicians are advised not to practice informed consent:

  1. An emergency that calls for rapid action.
  2. A patient being emotionally unable to be rational.

In these cases, physicians are urged to go ahead and try whatever they feel is appropriate. If you find yourself in neither of these situations and your doctor holds back information or does something you never agreed to, you might be able to sue.

What are injury attorneys? Do I need one?

Personal injury law concerns injuries resulting from other people’s negligence in doing everything possible to create a safe environment for people—whether on foot, by vehicle, during physical professional labor, or undergoing medical treatment—without severe injury.

This area of practice addresses a large variety of incidents, including auto collisions, slip-and-fall events on premises, medical malpractices, defective products, chemical poisoning, and job-site falls.

When the victim of a relevant event wins a case, they receive all the mobility equipment, property repair or replacements, and money necessary for full recovery. Should they lose, no payment is necessary for the received services.

Most personal injury victims, even those receiving the most convenient regular services from insurance and doctors, rely on attorneys in this field for the justice that’s rightfully theirs, because said services tend to be masterful at extorting money to help themselves.

The clinics and insurers will provide aid here and there to foster the healing process, but they’ll typically hold back a cut of what really should be yours. An injury attorney can prove to them and a court that the victim couldn’t have possibly done anything to prevent what happened.

Different types of injury attorneys

Attorneys everywhere are excellent at getting people the compensation they deserve—especially when the responsibility is forced on the sufferers—for their severe injuries. But not all injury attorneys are similar; each specializes in certain issues. Here are some examples of specific problems these lawyers address, and what those issues typically result in:

  • Car accidents. Vehicle accidents are the leading killer of young adults. Even for survivors, it can minimize their strength and productivity forever, usually because someone else was too lazy or absent-minded to observe their surroundings.
  • Truck accidents. Though the cause and effect is basically the same as a car accident, a truck accident is less escapable and more painful. Truckers are more blinded, because of the huge mandatory trailers for shipping. And since they must turn frequently like other vehicles, they widely swing to straighten the trailer.
  • Medical malpractice. This is a top-10 killer, with 195,000 deaths annually. It’s either a prescription or procedure inappropriate for a patient’s situation, or an inaccurate execution (e.g., cutting too deep) or diagnosis during an act of medical service. Medical malpractice can make someone function and feel worse, and they might be charged 2+ times the normal medical cost for the initial problem.
  • Pharmaceutical litigation. Most Americans rely on at least two different medications apiece for stability. Some have hurtful surprise effects after dosages because they’re not informed prior about all the ways their prescriptions could harm them. And usually, when things aren’t thoroughly analyzed or explained, that’s when irreversible injury or even death happens.
  • Premises liability. Many have fallen and gotten seriously hurt in a messy place they had to be in or pass through. Usually, the person occupying or running the area should be aware that things are wrong, but negligent to address any of the problems thoroughly.

Can you sue your doctor for failure to diagnose?

Medical malpractice is one of America’s costliest types of incidents, with an average of 195,000 deaths a year. There has been a national epidemic of reports of multiplied illness and severe injury, due to inappropriate prescriptions, non-consensual treatment performances, denied remedies, and withheld key information.

Within six months to two years, depending on the home state, a victim of medical malpractice can take their doctor to court. If the court sees evidence beyond reasonable doubt that:

  1. The patient permitted the physician to serve them at all.
  2. The physician violated the industry-wide guidelines for serving anyone with the same age range and physical function patterns of said patient.
  3. The injury in question was not present to any extent prior to the physician’s actions.
  4. The effects can easily be specifically identified.

Then the doctor should be found absolutely guilty of malpractice.

Failure is an inevitable outcome for everyone on the planet. We can all make great efforts to stay in line and keep from hurting others, but once in a while, we will be unable to help but slip up. So if you’re thinking of suing your doctor for replicating your already-poor health, you’d better be sure their actions were fairly conscious.