Determining if your doctor committed malpractice can be difficult. Put simply, your doctor committed malpractice if they deviated from the standard of care and caused you harm.
Deviating from the standard of care is when the doctor does something she should not have done, or when she doesn’t do something she should have.
It is important to ask yourself specific questions that will give you an indication as to whether or not your doctor committed malpractice.
Your doctor may have committed malpractice if the answer to any of the following questions is yes:
- Did my doctor do something she was not supposed to do?
- Did my doctor fail to do something that she should have done?
- Has the doctor’s actions caused me harm?
If you can answer yes to any of the questions above it is important to take action quickly. Some important initial steps to take are:
- Requesting your medical records from the facility at which the doctor works; and
- Reaching out to a medical malpractice attorney so you can have your case analysed;
- Not telling the doctor or facility that you are pursuing legal counsel, because it can make it more difficult if you need to request medical records.
Additional questions that you can ask yourself that will be helpful to know the answer to for when you speak to an attorney are:
- What exactly is the harm the doctor caused?
- How severe is the harm the doctor caused?
- How has the injury I experienced changed my life?
- Has the injury rendered me unable to work?
- Has the injury disabled me?
- Am I still being treated for the injury by the doctor who caused it?
- What is my prognosis?
