When you are injured by a doctor, hospital or other medical professional, your injury or illness can make everything feel uncontrollable. Your health may have suffered greatly and you might be unsure of what to do next or who to trust. The reality is that you can help yourself or a loved one who was injured from a preventable medical mistake.
The end goal when pursuing a medical malpractice claim is to get compensation for the wrongs suffered. While a legal claim cannot undue an injury suffered by a failure to diagnose or a worsened medical condition, it can help to cover the financial repercussions that such an injury would create.
Whatever stage you are at when determining to pursue a claim, medical records are a great place to start. Prescription medical information can be used to determine if any prescribed drugs caused a problem. In addition, health insurance information gives the details on your coverage and any out-of-pocket expenses you have or can expect to incur. Furthermore, any documents received from the doctor or hospital can serve as excellent evidence in a malpractice suit.
Because an incident with a medical provider or prescription drug can impact the injured person’s life for years to come, these medical documents are important. It’s possible the ‘smoking gun’ that can prove doctor or hospital negligence is contained within the documentation. At any rate, it’s a great place to start when pursuing compensation in a medical malpractice claim.
Source: FindLaw, “Documents for your Attorney: Illness and Hospitalization,” Accessed Nov. 21, 2016