Taking care of your health should always be on top of your priority list, however, sometimes another person is responsible for it. We should avoid being at hospitals as much as we can, but if we ever have to end up there, we expect our treatment to be professional.
Unfortunately, sometimes this isn’t the case, and you’ll be surprised after you find out the number of patients being incorrectly treated in numerous facilities across the world. When something like this happens, there are a few things that you need to do, and we’re going to tell you all about them in this article.
Whether you got hurt at work, or the treatment you received from your doctor or at the hospital wasn’t proper, we are here to help you, so let’s take a look at what you need to know.
What exactly does medical malpractice mean?
Before we take a look at the actions you should take in case you experience something like this, let’s take a look at the basic definition of medical malpractice.
If you ever get in a situation where a medical provider doesn’t provide you the right type of care you need, or if they injure you in some way, it means that you are a victim of medical malpractice. Sometimes this isn’t as serious as it sounds, but in some situations, the mistreated patient can experience life-changing damage caused by inadequate healthcare.
Does this sound like something that isn’t happening as often? Maybe, but take a look at these statistics. Back in 2013, in the United States of America, there was a malpractice payout averaging every forty minutes. In total, more than three billion dollars were spent. Does it sound more serious now?
Change your medical provider
Health is the most important thing, so before you think of doing anything to “get back” at the clinic that didn’t treat you well, make sure that you focus on solving your problem first. Change your medical provider and receive proper healthcare, and after that is done, you can focus on fighting for your rights.
Make a copy of all your records
If you decide that it is time to fight back for what you deserved but didn’t get, the more evidence you have, the better it is for you. All of your records, payments and everything connected with you and the current medical provider will be useful if things end up getting to the courtroom.
Contact a lawyer
If you are not a person who knows the law all too well, not to mention dealing with it professionally, your best option is to contact an attorney that specializes in medical malpractice. If during work you’ve experienced asbestos exposure, or you’re currently fighting asbestos cancer, you deserve to get all of the financial coverage for your endangered health-status. You can visit The Law Center and speak with an advocate who can help you get back the things you deserve.
Some of this stuff is not being told by your doctors, so if you know that you’ve been given defective drugs or anything similar, you are eligible for compensation.
Speak with your medicare provider
If you know that something’s wrong, and you’re not receiving the right kind of treatment, you have the full right to speak with your provider and tell them that you’re unsatisfied with their service. If they end up doing the same thing and no changes are made, you might have to take things into your own hands.
Ask for help from your family
If you are an older person and you don’t have the strength required to deal with the situation, you can always contact your family members and explain the situation in detail. You shouldn’t be afraid to speak the truth, especially if you are in a more serious condition that needs the right treatment. Your family members will be more than glad to help you. Even if things end up going to the court, all you’ll have to do is just give your report.
Understand the situation
According to what some doctors said in the past, most patients are afraid to ask for a change in their treatment simply because they are afraid that the price will also end up becoming higher. This is not the case and you shouldn’t be in any kind of fear that something wrong is going to happen if you ask for the right kind of service. In nine out of ten cases, you are right when you sense that malpractice might be happening.
Trusting your instincts
Sometimes people visit a doctor and they get prescribed something, but that something only makes them feel worse, not better. Even though everyone around you says that you should be listening to the doctor, you are still the only one who knows that your situation has worsened.
This means that you shouldn’t be afraid to get a second opinion from another doctor or switch completely if you are not feeling better, or even scarier, feeling worse. Maybe the treatment you’re receiving is not the right type, or maybe it further increased the damage instead of reducing it.
Ask for a refund
If you feel like what you received for your money is not even nearly as worth it, you can talk with your medical provider and tell them that you’re unsatisfied with their service. This might sound like something that’s really “wacky” to do, but in most cases, you’re right, and they’re wrong.
Believe it or not, people who end up doing this are usually getting their refund, and this is solely because the owner of the facility knows that if you end up using them for the medical malpractice that you went through, it’s going to cost them a lot more.
Of course, it can also happen that your refund isn’t given out immediately, so you might still need to contact a lawyer to get it, but if you are persistent you will end up winning the case. Just remember at the statistics we provided above, and you’ll understand that medical malpractice is not something that happens as rarely as you might think.
Nina Smith 
Kim Marks