Medical Malpractice: 4 Types Of Documents You'll Need At Your Legal Consultation
From a botched vasectomy to a misdiagnosis, medical errors can occur in all shapes and forms. Sadly, they occur more often than one might think. In fact, a Senate panel was informed in 2014 that medical errors come third in the line-up of leading causes of United States deaths, just behind heart disease and cancer. Regardless of what has happened to you, you will need to have plenty of evidence in order to take a physician, hospital or other medical professional or entity to court. For your attorney to help you the best that he or she can, you will need to provide as much documentation as possible as it relates to your injury. Here are four types of documents that you'll want to take with your to your first legal consultation:
1. Medical Records
These are probably the most important because it is the medical records that will show how everything "went down," so to speak. In these documents, your attorney should be able to find what and how medical procedures were performed, who all was involved and what type of care was – or possibly was not – accurately provided. Notes from nurses and doctors can help emphasize procedure violations or missteps that could have essentially resulted in your injury. If you have been unable to gain access to your medical records, your attorney can get them for you (with your permission).
2. Medication Records
If your medical malpractice claim is centering around the wrong dosage or wrong medication, then you'll need to get the record of your medication. Your doctor needs to know what, when, how, and how much was given to you in order to paint a full picture of the incident. This can help shed light on who is responsible for the medication error and how it occurred in the first place.
3. Any and All Bills
Either out of anger and spite or simply because you know you can't afford it, you may want to chunk those medical bills when they comes in the mail. Don't! If you want to receive full and fair compensation in your medical malpractice suit, then you're going to need these bills. Keep any bills and receipts of out-of-pocket costs so that your attorney can help establish how much in monetary damages you are entitled to.
4. Proof of Lost Wages
You may have damages to seek outside of bills and out-of-pocket expenses. In fact, it is very likely that you missed time from work due to the injury that you sustained. Make sure to bring pay stubs, bank statements or some form of record that proves your wages, as you can seek past and future wages that you lost or are at risk of losing due to your injury. If you don't have these, you can generally request them from your employer. If, for some reason, they don't want to provide them to you, your attorney can help you get your hands on them.
As you are preparing for your legal consultation, if you come across any other documents that you feel may be useful or valuable in your case, pack them up to take with you. It is better to have invaluable documents than to not have all of the right documents or to miss something important. With the right documentation, your attorney will be able to properly examine your case, get a feel for it and help you assess your legal options. For more information, visit sites like http://whiteville-law.com.
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