Common Mistakes in a Medical Malpractice Case

What are common mistakes people make in cases involving medical malpractice? We were recently contacted by a man whose mother had sustained an injury in a local doctor’s office. In looking at the circumstances surrounding that case, it was clear that certain mistakes had been made early on by the client. If you’re reading this, there’s a chance that you may have sustained an injury that you believe is the result of medical malpractice, and you may want to try to avoid these mistakes.

The first mistake that I see is that people delay getting an attorney. While that may sound a bit self-serving, in the context of a medical malpractice case, you do need an attorney. You cannot handle a medical malpractice case on your own, and you’re going to need to get an attorney as quickly as possible. Medical malpractice cases can take a very, very long time to litigate. The attorney has to get medical records together, to start with. The attorney then needs to deliver those medical records to an expert, and not just any expert, but an expert who is qualified under Georgia law to testify as to the negligence of whatever medical entity you’re attempting to sue. Whether the liable party in your case is a doctor or a hospital, you’re going to have to find the right expert, and an attorney is going to need to get involved as quickly as possible.

Another common mistake that you want to avoid is hiring the wrong lawyer. In the context of medical malpractice, because it involves expert witnesses and is a very nuanced part of the law, you want to hire a trial lawyer who has experience not only in prosecuting personal injury cases, but also has significant experience in handling medical malpractice cases. They are different from other types of personal injury cases, and they require expert testimony. That expert testimony can get expensive.

You want to make sure that the attorney you hire has the resources necessary to see that expert witness testimony and your case through to the end. You also want to make sure that your attorney has the experience necessary to know which type of expert witness to hire; after all, your case is only going to be as good as the expert witness that you hire to testify in your case. If you hire an expert witness who doesn’t know what they’re doing or you hire an expert witness who is not even going to be qualified to testify in the state, then your case will fail, no matter how negligent the doctors or other healthcare providers were or how badly you were injured.

If you’ve been injured as a result of someone’s medical malpractice and you have questions about it, we would be more than happy to answer any and all questions that you might have.

Were you or a loved one seriously injured due to hospital negligence and have questions about what mistakes to avoid in a medical malpractice case?