Medical malpractice is one of the most difficult things to prove and winning a medical malpractice lawsuit can be difficult. Having a seasoned medical malpractice lawyer in Chicago area at your side can be one of the best decisions you can make, and can help you get the compensation you deserve. There are articles out there discussing cases where a victim was awarded millions of dollars in compensation but what is rarely publicized all those that end in failure, and losing in court is more common than winning.
The greatest majority of medical malpractice lawsuits end up with verdicts supporting the defense; the doctor, hospital, etc. The most common challenges to be faced in bringing a medical malpractice case to court include:
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Proving that the respondent acted in a negligent manner
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Convincing the jury of the medical practitioners negligence
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Hiring a competent lawyer
Proving negligence:
This can be extremely difficult, the lawyer for the plaintiff often has little to go on, in many cases he or she has to rely on the doctor’s notes which can be self-serving and cryptic and difficult to understand. The medical malpractice lawyer in Chicago will work with medical experts who can determine exactly what the doctor did, did not do and more importantly, what should have been done. Doctors will not admit error; they can point to medical books that show that there are many different ways to treat an injury or disease. It takes a great deal of creativity on the part of the lawyer to establish negligence.
Convincing the jury:
For some unexplained reason juries seem to be hard on plaintiffs in medical malpractice suits. It seems as if the members of the jury understand that medicine is a difficult field and in many cases there is no right way to solve a problem. Juries seem to give the doctor the benefit of the doubt thinking that they tried their best and at times things go wrong. Unless the error that the doctor made is glaring, such as amputating the wrong leg or leaving a surgical instrument in the patient, juries often side with the doctor. All this said, a seasoned medical malpractice lawyer in Chicago knows this and has strategies to overcome what might be considered a bias in favor of the defendant.
Competent lawyer:
Having a qualified lawyer is critical in a medical malpractice case, far more than in a normal case of liability. It is not necessary that the lawyer you choose focuses exclusively on medical malpractice but you will have a far better chance of winning if your lawyer spends a considerable amount of his time on medical malpractice cases.
