If you were recently an inpatient in the hospital and you think you were discharged earlier than you should have been — and you suffer further issues — you may have a claim for medical malpractice. The following are some factors to consider if you want to file a lawsuit:
Do You Have a Solid Case?
Medical professionals must practice with a medical standard of care. This means they must provide you with the same level of care, no matter your circumstances. To have merit for a malpractice case, you have to show proof you were not provided with a proper medical standard of care. If you were discharged too early, you have to prove another medical provider would have kept you in the hospital longer for your condition. You also have to prove your injuries are directly due to your early discharge.
Are You Sure You Were Discharged Early?
Different hospitals have different policies on when to discharge patients. For instance, some overcrowded hospitals may start to discharge patients to make room for more emergent cases. This can result in a person leaving the hospital before they should.
One way to know if you were discharged too soon is to determine whether or not your pain is fully under control. If you still endured pain as you were discharged that could not be controlled with the prescribed pain control methods, chances are you were discharged too soon. If you did not have the opportunity to speak to your doctor before discharge and you did not receive proper instructions for at-home care, and suffered because of this, you may also have a case for early discharge.
How Can You Prove Your Claim?
The best way to prove your claim is with an expert testimony from another medical provider. This is a medical professional who did not treat you and is independent of your situation. If he or she looks over your case and agrees you left the hospital before you were well enough to take care of yourself, you have a good chance of winning your case. The witness will also need to testify how your injuries occurred as a result of the early discharge.
You need to advocate for yourself when you are in the hospital and you feel like you are being forced to leave sooner than you should. Do not feel shy about asking to speak to a member of hospital administration to voice your concerns. If you still receive push back, be sure to call an experienced injury lawyer right away.
Share14 December 2018
After I was in a car accident, I wasn't sure what I was going to do in the future. I had some really significant back and neck pain, so I started talking with a lawyer about how to recover some of my losses. I began working with an attorney to take care of things, but I was nervous about how the process would unfold. I began working with the attorney to evaluate every component of the incident, and help me to decode the problems I was faced with. We worked on learning more about the lawsuit, and it helped me to make sense of the situation. Learn more about accidents on this blog.