Thursday 28 March 2013

What are the Pros of Negligence Claims?

People automatically think that only victims and their lawyers benefit from negligence claims. But upon closer inspection, the benefits are not limited to just these two people, an entire industry actually gains when justice is served through a claim.

Starting with the expected, victims certainly do benefit when they win a negligence claim. The first, and probably the most obvious, is the financial benefit. By winning a case, a victim can get compensation that will pay for their medical bills. The compensation may also include any salaries and wages they lost when they did not come to work. They may be paid for future losses as well.

Lawyers also benefit from winning cases for their clients. If the victim hired them through a No Win No Fee arrangement, winning a case means that they get paid. Which means that all those hours of conducting research, drafting documents, and interviewing witnesses finally pays off.

Beyond that, a successful negligence claim may also benefit the health care industry as a whole. In some instances, a case may be the basis for a better diagnosis and improved treatment. It can be responsible for the shift to enhanced methods and equipment. It can be responsible for a better outlook and improved attitude as well.

With such a wide-ranging effect, a negligence claim does have its place in the health care industry because it can be the basis for a positive change.

Wednesday 27 March 2013

How do Solicitors know if an Injury Qualifies for Medical Negligence Claims?

Since people can easily file medical negligence claims, it is good a candidate for abuse. It is this exploitation that has many people, like legitimate victims, health care providers, and lawmakers up in arms. This is because the misuse of the right to file claims has such a damaging effect and far reaching consequence for everyone in the United Kingdom.

This is one of the reasons why solicitors screen all possible cases by talking to victims. During the initial conversation, a solicitor will sift through the facts of the case and decide if it qualifies as a legitimate claim.

Some of the questions that solicitors need to be answered to include:

•    Did the health care provider act in a way that no other similar provider would act, given the situation?

•    Did the action of the health care provider result in some form of harm?

If the answers to these two basic questions are “Yes” then there is a good chance that a situation qualifies as a legitimate claim. The next step of the solicitor is to delve deeper into the details, such as the step-by-step set of events leading up to the harm done to the patient.

Doing Something Dumb Does Not Mean it is not Eligible for a Medical Negligence Claim

People have done quite a few dumb things in their lives. In fact, a whole new category of reality television has been created documenting the things that people do. And despite the proliferation of these programs that also come with warnings, people still have not learned a thing.

One of the more interesting things that people do involves being pulled by a car over icy roads. While this may have been a good idea after a few beers, losing all of one’s front teeth after slamming in to the car’s boot was not exactly the consequence people were looking at.

After being bloodied, the person with the empty smile was rushed by his friends to the nearest hospital where he was told to gargle water until his gums healed. He was then sent home after a few hours of observation.

Two weeks later, the empty-smiled person was back in the hospital because of serious swelling to his gums. It turns out that bits of his teeth still remained embedded in his gums and needed to be surgically removed.

After the surgery, he filed medical negligence claims case against the attending doctors because they just told him to gargle water and sent him home. But to be sure he had a case, he first searched the internet, using the keyword medicalnegligenceclaims, in order to find a lawyer to talk. And after confirming his suspicions was told to file a case.