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Medical Malpractice Claims

Virginia Attorney John P. Harris III : helping medical malpractice victims and their families win restitution in Fredericksburg, Spotsylvania, Caroline County, Stafford, King George and throughout Virginia.

Initiating a Medical Malpractice Claim: The Road Less Traveled

If you have been a victim of medical malpractice, and have suffered an injury that your insurance company (or your doctor’s insurance company) won’t offer compensation for, you have two choices. You can either:

Say nothing, accept the pain, the additional expense, the decline or loss of income, and the strong possibility that both the quality and length of your life will be less from now on;
Hire an experienced medical malpractice attorney, who may give you a whole new perspective on your situation.

It’s really quite amazing that so few of those injured when seeking medical care pursue the second option, while so many decline it and live with the first. The majority of Americans who suffer preventable injury or illness as a result of medical malpractice and negligence say nothing, with several studies showing that as few as 1 in 10 victims of medical malpractice or their families ever file a claim.

Evaluating Your Medical Malpractice Claim: For Lawyers, Honesty is the only Policy

Regardless of what you think of lawyers, if you or a loved one is facing an injury due to medical malpractice, there is one fact you should know going into your first consultation. Medical malpractice cases are hard to win, and cost a lot of money to finance. The most recent studies show that only 1 in 27 victims of medical malpractice ever receive compensation comparable to the injury they’ve endured.

Funding the investigation, hiring expert witnesses to review the medical records, procedures and evidence and testify, and organizing and prosecuting your case can sometimes take years to carry out. Because in most states (including Virginia), medical malpractice attorneys must advance the money required to initiate and carry out the claim, attorneys must be very selective about the cases they take on.

Therefore, especially in cases of medical malpractice, attorneys have absolutely no incentive to mislead prospective clients in cases that have little to no chance of success. In fact, many attorneys simply won’t accept medical malpractice cases that aren’t open and shut settlements, due to the exorbitant cost of mounting a case and the many pitfalls that the legal system has in store for medical malpractice victims. Many medical malpractice victims must often shop their claim around for months, consulting with several lawyers before they’ll find one who will help assert their rights to compensation.

Jack Harris: Offering Medical Malpractice Victims a second opinion on their legal rights.

With that said, there is no field in law that provides attorneys with the same sense of accomplishment that winning a medical malpractice case means. This is why so many attorneys still represent victims of medical malpractice. There are easier ways to make money as a personal injury lawyer, but lawyers who believe in helping people in times when their needs are most dire understand the importance of continuing to take on medical malpractice cases.

John Harris is this kind of lawyer, and for residents living in or near Fredericksburg, Stafford, Caroline and King George County, Jack is here to listen to you and give you the most realistic outlook for your case. Jack has represented clients against some of the area’s largest and most prestigious hospitals, medical centers and clinics in cases of staff infections, anesthesia errors, surgical errors, aneurisms, internal bleeding and other clear cases of medical negligence.

If you are ready to take the road less traveled and pursue your rights as an American to fair compensation for an injury you never asked for, call John Harris today.

Library for Medical Malpractice Claims:

A MOTHER CAN SUE FOR A DEFECTIVE CHILD [PDF]
Description: The Virginia Supreme Court reconsiders and reaffirms its prior rulings that "a mother can recover, as an element of her own cause of action, damages for her mental suffering resulting from the birth of an impaired child.
Paxil Linked to Birth Defects
Description: The Food and Drug Administration is warning that a study has suggested that the antidepressant Paxil may be associated with birth defects. Failure of doctors "to carefully weigh the potential risks and benefits of using paroxetine therapy in women during pregnancy may be malpractice. Doctors should also discuss these latest findings as well as treatment alternatives, with their patients. Failure to do so may be malpractice.
More Experienced Physicians More Likely to Commit Malpractice
Description: Conventional wisdom about physician expertise generally holds that the longer a physician has been in practice, the better honed his or her clinical skills become. But a new study turns that adage on its head with its conclusion that physicians who have been in practice longer may, in fact, provide lower quality of care.