Med-Mal Not Always Easy to Decide

Personal injury attorneys don't hesitate to represent clients who have been harmed by medical malpractice. But deciding whether a case is truly malpractice and whether it should be pursued isn't easy to decide.

Those who want to put caps on medical malpractice awards, or ban malpractice lawsuits entirely, often say lawyers file lots of frivolous med-mal lawsuits. But here's the truth: Lawyers would be fools to file a frivolous case. On even the most clear-cut case of malpractice, attorneys can spend hundreds of thousands of dollars gathering facts and evidence to support claims, followed by hundreds or thousands of hours preparing and litigating a case.

With that much at stake, why would any attorney file a malpractice suit they know has no merit?

That aside, even cases that seem obvious can be difficult to prove. We have to establish that the doctor or hospital violated or fell below the "standard of care." That term has a very specific legal meaning and refers to the care anyone with a particular illness would receive based on commonly accepted practices. Breaching that standard of care also must have caused damages, another legal term with specific meaning that must be proved before a jury.

If a medical procedure didn't go the way it was planned and the outcome isn't what you liked, it doesn't always mean malpractice. But that shouldn't prevent you from checking, if for no other reason than easing your mind. At The Law Offices of Dianne Sawaya, we are happy to talk with you at no obligation about your situation. If we think you have a case, we'll tell you so. If we don't think you have a case, we'll tell you that too.

In either case, it's not frivolous to give us a call. If you think you or a loved one has been injured in a medical procedure gone wrong, give me a call at (303) 758-4777 or email me at DLS@dlslawfirm.com. Let's talk about your case and how we can help you. And remember - if we take your case, we don't get paid unless you get paid.