If you have been injured at a hospital, the prospect of filing a lawsuit against such a large, powerful entity can often seem daunting. This may be the case whether your injury was due to a medical provider’s negligence, the medical facility’s negligence, or even a hospital’s non-medical personnel’s negligence.
Proving medical malpractice is no easy task, and many plaintiffs lose their cases, especially if they try to represent themselves in the lawsuit. Hospitals tend to have enough financial and legal resources to intimidate just about any prospective plaintiff, so knowing how to proceed as a victim of hospital negligence is key.
You will need an attorney to guide you through the process of filing and litigating a lawsuit, and you will have to be an active participant in your case to maximize your chances of success. If you want to do what you can to help your lawsuit against the hospital go as smoothly as it can, here are a few tips for you to follow.
Start Creating Evidence Early
As soon as you can after you get injured, start taking pictures. If you were in a slip-and-fall accident, take pictures of whatever caused you to slip and fall. Take pictures of all your injuries and document your symptoms, too. If you were injured due to a medical provider’s negligence, take pictures of any outwardly visible injuries you have.
Keep all of your medical records and medical bills from any medical treatment you seek for your injuries. Also, be sure you keep copies of your wage statements to show how much income you have lost if you have been off work because of your injuries.
Prove Your Damages
The last thing you want is to be injured and not be able to prove your damages to the insurance company. The pieces of evidence you will need to keep so you can present them to the at-fault parties, the insurers, and the court includes:
- Medical records
- Medical bills
- Pictures of your injuries
- An incident or police report documenting your accident
- Wage statements from your employer
These documents will demonstrate that you were injured and that you have suffered damages as a result of your injuries. Without them, your case could be an uphill battle.
Consider Pre-Settlement Funding
Hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, and health care providers benefit from teams of lawyers that help them. To regain power and financial support if you are the plaintiff, pre-settlement funding might be the solution.
Frequently, injury victims are left unable to work while they are recovering, which can create a significant financial strain for them and their loved ones. If the victim’s injuries are severe enough, they may never be able to return to their previous job again, regardless of how well their recovery process goes.
If you think your finances could suffer while you are waiting for your case to be resolved, pre-settlement funding can give you the temporary cushion you need to keep paying the bills in the meantime.
Remember to Be Patient
The civil litigation process can be long and arduous, and it can seem even longer and more frustrating to someone who has been physically harmed because of someone else’s negligence.
When you get frustrated about your case, just remember your attorney is prosecuting it as diligently as they can and advocating for you as effectively as is possible. They want you to recover all the compensation to which you are entitled, but it may take them quite a while to convince the at-fault parties and their attorneys to pay up.