Medical Malpractice: What To Look For In An Attorney

Submitted By: Jason Hanson

The concept of shopping for an attorney can seem foreign to many people, particularly those with little contact with the law. To many, the law seems an incomprehensible enigma filled with Latin jargon, a complex judicial system, and high stakes all around.

But, like all industries, the law, and in particular medical malpractice representation, is a commodity. And like all commodities there are a few high quality providers and a great many shabby ones. Unfortunately, finding a good medical malpractice attorney isn’t quite as a simple as finding a cheap price, rather, it’s a lot like finding a good car mechanic.

But at least with a car mechanic you can have some judge as to the quality of his work by whether your car runs at the end of the day. In medical malpractice litigation by contrast, you will never know if you got the best settlement or damages which you could have. So, the only recourse is to do your due diligence beforehand and do sufficient research to make sure that your attorney is decent.

Here are a few ground rules:

1. Experience matters

If your attorney is very young, then he is probably simply too young to be any good. Being a Plaintiff’s attorney (which is what you are asking him/her to be) is an extraordinarily difficult task which involves a lot of experience and know-how. While the defense typically has an army of young attorneys which are all capable in their aspect of the case, the Plaintiff’s typically have 2 or 3 attorneys which must run the whole case. So, if you meet an attorney who has been practicing for less than several years, do not hire him/her to head up your case.

2. Always well funded

A good Plaintiff’s attorney is always well funded. Most Plaintiff’s attorneys will offer to take your case on contingency (which means they get nothing if you don’t win). That also means, that your attorney needs to have enough money to fight a very long time for you. If the defendant recognizes that your Plaintiff’s attorney is short on cash, the Defendant will simply threaten to stretch out the case indefinitely, forcing your attorney to settle at a price much below what you could get otherwise. Verify this information by asking them what information they can provide you on the average length of the case, how much they expend, as well as intangibles like the appearance of the office.

3. Look for Summer Associates

A Summer Associate is a law student who works at a law firm during the summer. You may not know where the good firms are, but these students sure do. Summer associates are paid well, so this is a good indicator of a strong Plaintiff’s firm if they have a number of Summer Associates. Not every good Plaintiff’s attorney has these, however, so don’t scratch a firm off on this basis alone, just take it as one indicator.

4. Payment Arrangement

In any decent Medical Malpractice suit, the attorney will always ask to be paid on contingency. This means that the attorney will take a cut of your winnings. This percentage will vary on the size and type of case, but always remember that it is negotiable. If an attorney ever asks for you to put up money up front or pay hourly, then do not use him/her as your medical malpractice attorney. If you shop around and multiple attorney’s all tell you that they will only take your case on an hourly rate, you can rest assured that your case will be an uphill battle. It may be better just to drop it than fight it at all.

About the Author:

Jason Hanson recommends you contact the Law Firm of Richardson, Patrick, Westbrook, and Brickman if you need a medical malpractice attorney. Learn more at http://www.rpwb.com/medical_devices/.

Medical Malpractice Compensation Claim

by Jene Pedder

Are you suffering from an illness or medical condition that hasn't been diagnosed and missed by your doctor's and the hospital, have you suffered from pain and no one would take any notice, have the doctor's missed all your symptoms and you've gone home feel worse for wear thinking why doesn't no one believe me or have been into surgery and something's gone wrong you may even have died from all of the above. If any of these sound like something that's happened to you, you have a legal and civil right to claim compensation.

Medical negligence needs to have more nationwide and worldwide coverage on the radio and television. In America over 80,000 people die each year from a variety of medical negligence illnesses and this is only the cases the hospitals reveal so this may be a lot higher. If medical negligence was a disease everyone would be panicking and doctors, consultants and researchers would be doing all they can to stop the disease from spreading so why are they letting thousands of people die each year from silly mistakes and missed diagnoses'.

Around 35 to 40% of the 80,000 people dying each year are from missed diagnosis, this is so simple to rectify all doctors, consultants should listen to every patient whatever they may think wrong and if nothing can be found wrong more tests need to be done until a problem is found. These statistics don't even show the illness's and even deaths of people who are in clinics, non hospital facilities, dental practises and private doctor's offices.

There are very little compensation claims for injured and the death of a person from medical negligence as little as only 2%. So you may be thinking why, well death is a very private and personal family thing to come to terms with, many families just want to forget and remember the good times and forget about the illness and what caused the death of their family member.

Before I wrote this article I never realised the large extent of missed and wrong medical diagnosis and how many people die each year in only one country from medical malpractice. The media doesn't pick up on how many people die from this due to people dying on a 'one at a time basis'. Everyone needs to know the extent of this problem its not a small problem it's a huge problem and it's not going to go away until everyone realises the problem and the hospitals, NHS, private doctor and dental practises and other non-hospital facilities take great care in looking after every patient that comes through their door.

If you've been involved in any of the above don't sit back and think it's your fault, if you or any member of your family have been injured from medical negligence or you're partner, husband/wife, daughter/son, sister/brother have unfortunately died, don't sit back and let the hospital or whoever get away with it, you can claim on behalf of your family member to get the compensation they deserve. Not only the compensation but you may even help raise awareness of medical malpractice and this can only help reduce the large amount of medical malpractice injuries and deaths.

About the Author
Jene Pedder is the Webmaster of Accident Consult who specialise in Medical Malpractice Compensation Claims.

Steering Clear of Medication Mistakes

by Kristien Wilkinson

Going wrong on your medications can have serious and even potentially fatal consequences. Not taking your medicines at the right time for instance results in ineffective treatment and can lead to worsening of your medical condition. Adverse drug interactions can cause major disorders or even death.
According to the Institute of Medicine, about 1.5 million people in the United States alone are harmed by medication errors. However, the prevention of drug mistakes is fairly simple and often merely requires a good dose of common sense.

Taking various drugs with adverse interactions is one of the more common and dangerous medication errors. Drug-to-drug interaction happens when two or more drugs react with each other and produce unexpected and harmful side effects. Medicines may also react with certain foods and beverages like alcohol. Tylenol (acetaminophen) mixed with alcohol has adverse effects on the liver while the antibiotic metronidazole, when taken with alcohol, can cause nausea, vomiting, stomachache, flushing, and headache. Some drugs may also not go well with existing medical disorders. For example, using a nasal decongestant when you have high blood pressure could worsen your condition.

To avoid drug interactions, it's best to talk to your doctor or pharmacist and let them know about all the medications, supplements, and herbal remedies you're taking as well as any medical conditions you may have. Take the time as well to read the label or package insert of the drug. It tells you what the drug is for, how to take it, its active ingredient, the potential side effects of taking it, and the risks of its interaction with other substances.

Another common medication mistake is getting the wrong prescription from the pharmacy. This is not always your fault, of course, but you can take certain precautions to prevent it from happening. This error happens sometimes because the pharmacist is not able to decipher your doctor's handwriting or the drug may have a similar name with another medicine. To avoid this, you can ask your doctor to include in the prescription pad what the drug is for. At other times, the error could be caused by simple mishandling: you were handed someone else's medicines. To make sure you got the right prescription, always check your medications before leaving the pharmacy.

Non-compliance on proper drug intake is another recurring medication problem. There are instances when people just fail to read drug labels or pay attention to the doctor's instruction. Thus, they're practically clueless on when, how, and for how long to take their medicines. Not taking your medications as directed significantly affects the effectiveness of your treatment. You may also suffer from further negative effects if you take more than the prescribed dose. To prevent this problem, make sure that you understand the prescription clearly before you even leave the doctor's office. Post the prescription note on your medicine cabinet or in a place where you can easily review it when you take your medicines.

A big part of avoiding medication errors is having the right information so it's always helpful to read relevant medical sources. Preventing these mistakes doesn't have to be as complicated as brain surgery, but at times, it could be just as important.

About the Author
Kristien Wilkinson is an online writer and contributor to http://www.getcheapdrugs.com

What is Medical Malpractice?

by Joe Devine

Medical malpractice is the very broad term given to a very wide variety of incidences where a doctor or someone with a medical license makes some sort of mistake that results in the injury or death of a patient. Such areas include birth injuries, missed or wrong diagnoses, or improper treatment. These are just three of many other areas of medical malpractice.
Birth injuries are basically any injury to a baby during birth that could have been prevented by action on the part of the doctor that was responsible for delivering the baby. For instance, if there are difficulties during the delivery and a doctor does not perform a c-section to get the baby oxygen, brain damage can occur. This is an example of birth injury that could have been prevented by quicker action or action in general by the doctor that was delivering the baby. Many birth injury situations involve unforeseeable complications that must be treated as best as possible when they occur. In other situations, a birth injury is preventable and may be the result of medical error, negligence, or malpractice. Birth injuries and birth traumas are often considered the same thing. Common causes of birth injuries include:

- Complications during pregnancy

- Improper dating

- Complications during childbirth

- Ob/Gyn errors such as mishandling of an instrument, improper delivery technique, Incorrect estimation of birth date, improper prenatal testing, failure to perform C-section in a timely manner, diagnostic errors, and failure to treat a condition

- Obstetrical mistakes such as failure to recognize fetal distress, failure to diagnose or treat infection, and failure to respond to complications in a timely manner

Missed or wrong diagnoses are pretty much exactly the way they sound. They involve a doctor misdiagnosing a disease or injury or a doctor not diagnosing something that is there. An example of misdiagnosing a disease would be diagnosing someone with Type 2 diabetes as having Type 1 diabetes. Quite frequently, these errors are quite dangerous as they frequently involve incorrect treatment. Doctors can also diagnosis something when a patient is in actuality healthy. The opposite of this situation is also true.

Improper treatment is also very similar to what it sounds like it is. It involves treating a disease or injury incorrectly. The incorrect treatment of a disease often results in the disease getting worse or a different disease developing. In order for incorrect treatment to be brought into play, a doctor must first diagnose the disease or injury correctly. Only then can improper treatment be brought up as an issue.

These are just three of the many areas of medical malpractice that personal injury lawyers see on a daily basis.

About the Author
Madison Personal Injury Lawyers of Habush, Habush, and Rottier, S.C.

Malpractice Insurance Companies

by Kevin Stith

Malpractice insurance companies provide timely, accurate, cost-effective malpractice insurance to their clients. These insurance companies have been licensed by state law. They operate as insurers and sell products to clients who pay for premium policies. The policies of malpractice insurance companies vary with geographical location, organization or company, and specialties being offered. The existence (or lack) of malpractice insurance differs from state to state too. The success of a malpractice insurance company very much depends on the financial market and reasonability of awards from lawsuits.


Malpractice insurance companies offer policies that ensure long-term services to customers. There is, in fact, a reciprocal understanding that a malpractice insurance company will give money to its client in return for payment for premiums by the medical professional. For instance, let’s say a doctor is charged with negligence or malpractice in advocating a particular drug. If he is insured, the settlement is done by the malpractice insurance company.


Malpractice insurance companies offer insurance policies that clear the dues of the insured professional – attorney fees and court charges and, most importantly, settlement awards to complainants. Before providing its services, a malpractice insurance company takes a written consent in order to settle the claims made from the professional sued for malpractice.


The insurance companies thus work towards providing fair compensation to the complainant and at the same time offer malpractice insurance to protect specialized professionals in liability suits.


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