Florida Injury Lawyer Blog
Medical malpractice and misdiagnosis in Homestead and other American cities is a serious problem. According to some researchers, hundreds of thousands of Americans each year are seriously injured or even killed due to mistakes and negligence in hospitals, clinics, and doctor’s offices. Often, in these cases, victims may be able to launch a personal injury claim in Homestead or their community in order to seek compensation for their medical costs, incidental bills, lost wages, and more.
According to a 2011 study published in the journal Qualitative Sociology and 2013 Emory University School of Law study, however, many patients with legitimate medical malpractice claims have a hard time seeking compensation for their injuries. There are a number of reasons for this:
1) The costs of pursuing medical malpractice claims are very high. Due to the nature of these cases, medical malpractice claims in Homestead and other cities are very expensive to pursue. They may require medical experts, expert witnesses, private investigators, and countless hours of investigation and legal work.
2) Hospitals and doctors take steps to limit liability and to prevent claims. A hospital, for example, may offer not to bill a patient for follow-up care after a preventable mistake. They may also refuse to take responsibility for an error (even though most accreditation and certification groups for healthcare professionals advocate full disclosure in the event of any unexpected or negative outcome). This means that the patient can no longer claim large medical bills when filing a claim and may need to work harder with an attorney to prove their case.
3) Hospitals and doctors are protected by powerful insurance companies and by various laws. In some cases, there are caps on the compensation that plaintiffs can seek in medical malpractice cases. There is also a statute of limitations in Florida which limits how much time plaintiffs have to file a claim. In addition to these laws, doctors and healthcare settings are protected by insurance carriers who have teams of attorneys on their side, so that the plaintiff is often facing a very powerful defendant.
4) Those who may be most vulnerable – such as children and the elderly – may have smaller claims. They may not have income that they have lost, for example, so even though they deserve compensation for their pain and suffering, the total monetary loss may be considered small by the legal system when compared with a young professional who is the sole income earner in their household. This can make it harder for them to seek a legal claim or even find an attorney, according to some studies.
So what can a plaintiff with a legitimate claim do? The first step is to contact a personal injury attorney with experience in medical malpractice cases. It can also be helpful to review with an attorney all possible costs of an injury as well as other possible sources of compensation and help.
The full-service law firm of Flaxman Law Group believes that all injured parties deserve legal advice and compassion. To discuss your case with a personal injury attorney, contact us at any time for a free case review.