You trust your doctor or medical facility to give you true and accurate health advice, cure and correct diseases and injuries, and in general have your best interests at heart. But what happens if your physician fails to deliver the quality care you’ve come to expect? Do you have the right to file a medical malpractice lawsuit?
Malpractice can cause serious losses to patients, but proving it requires more than showing that the healthcare professional made a mistake. Working with the right attorney, you can make your case and seek the monetary damages you need to recover. Find out why medical malpractice victims in Flagstaff, West Valley, and Buckeye, AZ trust the Gill Law Firm to fight for them.
Malpractice: More Than a Medical Error
The law does not require healthcare professionals, businesses, and organizations to be perfect. Recognizing that people sometimes make mistakes despite their best efforts, there must be something more to prove medical malpractice. The key question is whether the mistake was reasonable in light of the circumstances.
When doctors and other medical professionals depart from the accepted standard of care and thereby cause harm to their patients, the result is malpractice. In other words, the mistake must be something that a similarly situated professional or facility would not do if they were acting with reasonable care. If that mistake caused injury to the patient such that they incurred damages, then the patient probably has a case.
Steps to Litigating Your Arizona Malpractice Lawsuit
If you were injured in Flagstaff, West Valley, or Buckeye, AZ, and your doctor or other medical professional engaged in malpractice, you should work with an experienced lawyer to take the following steps:
- Present the arguments and evidence to the malpractice insurance carrier: It is customary to present a demand letter to the insurance company that covers the professional or facility, stating the issue and requesting compensation. A deadline is typically included for a response.
- Discuss the terms of settlement, if possible: Many malpractice insurance policies require the consent of the insured before agreeing to terms of settlement. Still, at this stage it may be possible to settle without a lawsuit. If the insurer negotiates in good faith then the parties may have productive negotiations.
- File a lawsuit in Superior Court: If the insurance company refuses to negotiate in good faith, then the attorney representing the victim may file a lawsuit in Superior Court. This is also likely if the statute of limitations is about to run (see below), since that could permanently foreclose judicial relief.
- Await the answer and initiate discovery: The next step is to wait for the defendant’s answer, which will almost certainly deny all of the pertinent allegations. At this point, the parties can formally begin the discovery process by which information and documents are requested and exchanged.
- Settlement conference or mediation: The judge overseeing the case will likely order a settlement conference or mediation to see if a settlement can be reached. Mediation involves retaining a neutral third party mediator in Flagstaff, West Valley, or Buckeye who helps the parties reach a mutually agreeable resolution.
- Proceed to trial, if necessary: If a settlement cannot be reached, then the matter will go to trial. The attorneys representing both parties will call upon their own witnesses and expert witnesses, the latter of whom will testify as to the applicable standard of care and other issues.
Considerations for Your Malpractice Lawsuit
You will want to keep the following in mind as you move forward with your malpractice claim:
- Don’t neglect the statute of limitations: With limited exceptions, you only have two years from the date the malpractice is discovered or reasonably should have been discovered to file a lawsuit.
- Don’t wait until the statute is close to running: You should take action long before the two-year deadline to preserve and obtain evidence, retain key witnesses and expert witnesses, and present the strongest possible case.
- You’ll need an affidavit from a medical professional: Arizona law requires that, within 60 days of filing your medical malpractice lawsuit, a qualified medical expert files an affidavit of merit. The purpose of this affidavit is to show that the case has merit; without it, the judge might dismiss the lawsuit.
- Prepare your case long before filing it: You will want to gather all relevant documents (e.g. medical records) and secure the expert witnesses who will testify as to the applicable standard of care and other matters. Also collect records that show the financial, emotional, and personal impacts of the malpractice.
- Don’t speak to the insurance company on your own: The insurance company that represents the doctor or healthcare facility does not have your interests in mind, so let an attorney handle communications with them.
Count On Us to Go to Work for You
When you retain the Gill Law Firm to handle your Arizona medical malpractice lawsuit, you have a trusted legal ally working on your behalf for the best possible outcome. Begin your case today by giving us a call or filling out our online form.