Auto Accident Law 101
Odd Situations That Will Prevent You From Filing A Medical Malpractice Claim
Everett Cook
Of all of the areas of personal injury law, medical malpractice cases tend to be the ones that are the most complicated. There is a great burden of proving the multiple facets of medical malpractice, which means not everyone who believes they should be able to file will actually be able to. Finding this out can sometimes come as a shock. Here is a look at some of the tricky situations that may prevent you from being able to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
An acquaintance is a doctor and told you wrong information about your health.
In order to be eligible to file a lawsuit for medical malpractice, there has to be proof that there was a typical doctor-patient relationship. In other words, there must be evidence that you paid a medical professional for treatment and they were supposed to provide you with treatment to the best of their ability. If there was no doctor-patient relationship on a professional level, you cannot sue them for medical malpractice. For example, if you have an acquaintance who is a doctor, and they informed you that you have no reason to seek treatment, but later you find out you should have, this would not be medical malpractice.
You were injured by a treatment, but the treatment provider was not a medical professional.
There is a standard of care in the medical field that all practitioners, from nursing assistants to surgeons and physicians, must abide by. However, these same rules do not apply when you seek treatment from someone who was not an actual medical provider. For example, if you go to a holistic professional who is not a doctor, they leave you injured in some way, you may not be able to file a medical malpractice claim. However, you still may be able to file a personal injury claim in some cases.
There was medical malpractice, but it's been many years since your treatment.
Most states have a statute of limitations when it comes to how long you have to legally file a medical malpractice claim. Some states only allow you a few years from the date you either had treatment or determined you were injured. If it has been many years since you received the poor treatment, you may not be able to file a claim. The only exception here is if the practicing medical professional did something to make you believe there were no injuries present.
For more information, contact your local personal injury lawyer.
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After being involved in a serious auto accident with a drunk driver, I struggled heavily with getting the driver's insurance company to open a claim. When the insurance company started pushing back, I knew I needed to do something. I spent a lot of time digging through the laws surrounding auto accident claims so that I knew what my legal rights were. I even talked with an auto accident attorney. I created this site to teach others about what I learned, including my court experience. I hope it helps you to determine how you should proceed with your auto accident case.