Author: Seth

Can you sue your doctor for failure to diagnose?

Posted on by Seth

Every year, 3 in 20 Americans experience unfair misery because their doctors either:

  1. failed to arrange crucial testing for serious problems
  2. provided the wrong care for a condition
  3. neglected to thoroughly study what was going on

Because people rely so heavily on doctors to guide them through and out of difficult physical situations, these three actions can be seriously hazardous and even fatal. If your physician does one of these three things and your body experiences agonizing consequences, you might be able to get monetary compensation from them.

If your doctor messed up and it affected you in a relatively minor way, don’t expect a cash award. Inherently, there’s a pretty good deal of room for error any time they try to help you overcome something. Some ailments are more complicated, with long lists of potential causes and cures. And multiple ailments have multiple symptoms in common. Therefore, even the clearest details can sometimes throw a doctor off.

Most doctors make a habit of practicing something called the “Differential Method.” This process involves listing all the different conditions that could cause all the symptoms the patient is experiencing. The next step is to arrange for other physicians to do one unique test after another to diagnose the potential ailments. As certain ones are proven incorrect, they’re crossed off. The “Differential Method” has proven to be the most successful strategy for figuring out medical conditions, but some physicians have been reluctant to use it, either because of a stubborn attitude or fear for the patient’s financial security.

Different types of injury attorneys

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If you get an injury that leaves you heavily damaged and is too hard for you to heal all on your own, you most likely will be expected to pay a fortune to recover. A significant injury can mean a drastic loss of money that took so long to get into your pocket in the first place. Why put up with that when you know you couldn’t really avoid getting hurt? Why let yourself be punished for a problem caused by someone else? Here are a few examples of incidents that you might want a personal injury lawyer for:

  • Mesothelioma. Asbestos is a group of silicate minerals that can wander throughout the air and cause painful problems with all internal organs. 2,000-3,000 people a year are coming down with this cancer. It’s not as avoidable as you may assume, because these minerals are used to make most products and buildings. Even long after a construction or manufacturing job is complete, the finished building or product can have one mineral or another wandering around it.
  • Medical malpractice. Approximately 400,000 people die annually because of a doctor’s unnecessary treatment, performance mistakes, or incorrect prescriptions. One time or another, a doctor has persuaded a patient to agree to a certain service for healing, but then done something very different than described. Some physicians have held back vital information about patients’ issues, or poisoned clients with too much medicine.
  • Premises liability. A lot of times, you have to pass by countless buildings to get someplace important. Sometimes you have to linger awhile in one place on your way to another. In a situation like that, lots of people have ended up getting severely hurt because their surroundings were hazardous. Usually, it happens because they couldn’t see a problem or they weren’t fairly warned prior.

Different types of injury attorneys

Posted on by Seth

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.

What are injury attorneys? Do I need one?

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Injuries make life more complicated and more stressful than usual. When it’s a rather serious kind, medical services and insurance companies can be key contributors to those difficulties, as they typically try to force the injured person to use their own money to heal all the damage resulting from the incident. They’ll often do so even when the incident was not—at least not entirely—the fault of the sufferer.

Fortunately, you don’t have to put up with that kind of injustice if you can get the help of a reliable personal injury lawyer. Such an attorney can be a huge lifeline when you’re being held completely accountable for the hurt you’ve been going through that was the fault of another’s neglect. If you have enough reason to believe that someone else put you in a position to get hurt and made it reasonably unrealistic for you to try to avoid it, you may be freed from most, or even all of the financial costs of what happened.

You have a number of large everyday needs—food, shelter, travel, etc.—that take a lot of money to meet. An injury means someone will be obligated to make big payments. It can take forever to make that kind of money on your own. So why let your doctors and insurance drain your wallet when you shouldn’t be the one held responsible in the first place? Ask a personal injury attorney to fight to prove who really caused your inconvenient and miserable incident.

Do you need a personal injury attorney?

Posted on by Seth

In most cases, someone may owe you money for causing you unfair physical misery by way of reckless or negligent conduct. If that accurately describes your situation at a given time, then it might be really helpful to have the support of a personal injury lawyer.

If you’re not that severely injured and neither medical service nor insurance charges you anything in response to the incident, the service might not be necessary. However, if your body’s having a really tough time functioning and you’re being obligated to pay for recovery all by yourself, you might want legal representation.

Personal injury lawyers advocate for compensation from:

  • Medical malpractice
  • Accidents in professional tasks
  • Traffic accidents
  • Falling on floors and grounds
  • Muscle/bone damage from repetitive activity
  • Chest infections
  • Exposure to industrial chemicals (e.g., asebestos)

The job of these representatives is to prove you’re in no way responsible for getting yourself into a position to suffer the grueling pain you’re going through. They strive to make it abundantly clear that you had no reason to expect a hazard leading up to the incident, and the circumstances were a total surprise to you.

If you win your case, you’ll be free from any obligation to pay for any applicable medical attention, property damage, etc. resulting from your injury.

Time limits to file personal injury lawsuits

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The sooner a personal injury victim reports an incident to a law firm, the clearer the claim. In California and 23 other states, a claim delayed at least two years is considered impossible to assert convincingly.

On one hand, two years may seem like a pretty long time. However, if you really think about it, hardly a day goes by where there isn’t some kind of big, inevitable demand. So try your best not to delay if you feel you need legal help to bounce back from a severe injury.

The sooner you make that request for an attorney to fight for your rightful compensation, the less actions you’ll be obligated to handle and the quicker you can physically heal. The moment a lawyer agrees to develop an argument in support of your claim of entitlement, you’re off the hook; you can just sit back and relax your way back to normal efficiency until you’re due to appear in court to discuss what happened (if necessary). If they need to hear more information, they’ll let you know.

You may assume you can independently prove beyond reasonable doubt that you’re entitled to a monetary award and you don’t deserve to pay anything. However, being just as serious about wealth and convenience as you are, doctors and insurers are typically even more relentless in argument; they typically won’t quit until they’re no longer able to come up with an answer within a short amount of time.

Lawyers are equally relentless, yet they go far beyond charming talk; they do everything possible to visualize the truth.

Why you should seek an injury attorney quickly after an auto or personal injury accident

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Because personal injuries are usually quite severe, they usually require substantial amounts of money to bounce back from. Victims need plenty of physical care and tremendous property repair to return to normal life following an incident.

In order for all of this to be done with the utmost accuracy, conversations must be had with doctors and insurers to confirm the severity of the incident, as well as who’s at fault. Once that’s complete, the precise amounts of money needed for recovery can be clearly understood.

Personal injury lawyers give their clients exemption from the obligation to explain what happened, as well as the obligation to pay the monetary value of the damages with their own money. With this legal service, injury victims can simply relax their way through the conditions caused by the accidents.

Lawyers speak to physicians and insurers on behalf of clients, so any words they would most likely say cannot be used to paint them as reckless or guilty. A representative will listen to the story, and then carefully re-phrase what they’ve heard to convince others servicing the victim, that they’re entitled to compensation.

By hearing you out and focusing all their attention on the effects of your accident, personal injury lawyers keep your inconveniences from being doubled, ensuring you don’t have to do anything to right the wrong.

Can you sue your doctor for failure to diagnose?

Posted on by Seth

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.

Progression of a Typical Personal Injury Case

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Personal injury cases usually begin at the scene of the accident when possible. Witnesses, photographs material evidence and even the weather conditions all play a role in a personal injury case. Eye witness reports and evidence collected after the accident, improves the position of the injured party. It is important that any collected information no mater how trivial at the time is protected and kept.

The Intake: Lawyer and Client Interview

  • During the initial interview the personal injury attorney reviews the facts and makes a determination of the likelihood for success. This initial meeting of fact gathering is called review the intake. Other factors considered are;
  • Time passed since the injury
  • Weight of evidence
  • How much further evidence can be collected?
  • Also factored are any persons who witnessed the injury
  • The ability to collect compensation
  • The costs that will be incurred.
  • Decide the best approach to resolve the case, litigation or arbitration.

If personal injury attorney agrees to represent, he may send a demand letter to those responsible for the injury, demanding compensation, or skip this step in favor of a lawsuit by filing a complaint.

The Complaint

The complaint is a document that is filed with the clerk in the appropriate courthouse. In the complaint are allegations of the plaintiff, against the perpetrator he alleges is responsible for the injury. Once the complaint is filed and the defendant is duly served, litigation can begin.

The Answer to the Complaint

The defendant usually files a document and responds to the allegations, called the answer. Once these documents are filed and served, a process called discovery is started.

Discovery:

This process can take months or years. Information is exchanged between the attorney of the plaintiff and the defendant. The process is supposed to give both sides all the evidence in the case, in an effort to eliminate any surprises at trial. Questions and answers are mailed back and forth between attorneys and demands are made for evidence such as photographs, medical reports, records, test results, witness accounts.

Taking Depositions:

Much of the work performed by the attorneys is at the deposition stage of the personal injury case. During a lawsuit the defendant attorney often demands depositions be taken from witnesses or experts. This is where a defendant has a chance to hear what the injured party might say at the trial. A court stenographer is usually used and records all questions and answers for the record. If a witness or the injured party changes what is said, it can be used to discredit the plaintiff if they give testimony at trial.

Hearings, Motions, and Summary Judgment

During the course of litigation, attorneys typically bring legal issues to the court’s attention through what is called a motion. Upon making a motion, the opposing attorneys meet at court to argue the issue.

If one of the attorneys makes a motion for summary judgment it is considered a pivotal point in the case. This type of motion is made after both sides of the case have had an opportunity to learn and obtain evidence through the discovery process. When one side thinks there is a preponderance of evidence to support their side, they may move the motion for a summary judgment.  If the side that makes this motion wins, it puts the other side at a severe disadvantage; there are very few opportunities for the other side to recover. However, if the motion is lost, then the court has concluded that a trial is to follow.

The Trial

Once discovery is completed and the court hasn’t heard any motions for summary judgment it has to decide that a trial needs to exist for each side to prove their side of the facts. At the trial either a judge or a jury has an opportunity to see and hear the evidence and ultimately decide who is telling the truth. Once the trial has finished, the judge or jury gives a verdict. At this point it decides whether the defendant is responsible or not, and if so, how much compensation the defendant must pay.

Appeal

Sometimes a mistake is made in a rule of law

When the side that lost the trial believes the judge made an error in a rule of law, that affected the outcome of the trial, it can appeal to a “higher” court for a ruling to decide whether a mistake was made. If the losing side wins the appeal, the case is returned to the lower trial court. The trial judge can clear up his mistake or give a new trial.