Surgical error cases are serious, and hospitals offer settlements as a way to avoid litigation
Surgical errors can have a devastating impact on your life. If you are a victim of surgical error and have been offered a settlement directly from the hospital, you may be wondering if you need a surgical error attorney. The answer is yes, for several key reasons. Read more to understand why.
The Hospital’s Settlement Offer May Be Too Low
While a settlement offer from a hospital may seem tempting, their willingness to settle your case with you before you have an attorney is not necessarily a good sign. You must remember that the hospital is not on your side. They want you and the potential of your lawsuit to go away. Their settlement offer is likely to be quite low, and there are two main reasons why:
They Don’t Consider All of the Damages
There are several economic and noneconomic damages that you can sue for due to medical injury here in Maryland. A surgical error lawyer in Baltimore can help you take a practical approach when assessing all the damages in your case.
Economic damages you could be suffering include medical bills for the surgery, costs of any treatment you need for the injury from the error, loss of past or future income, or disability costs. Additionally, noneconomic damages like pain and suffering should also be considered and included in surgical error settlements. The hospital is not including all of the potential damages in their offer – all they want is for you to take the money as quickly as possible.
They Want To Avoid a Lawsuit
Pressuring people into taking settlement offers quickly is the best way for a hospital to avoid a lawsuit. Surgical errors can be disastrous, and the hospital knows the consequences could be terrible for them: that’s why they are trying to convince you to take their offer now.
Initial settlement offers from a hospital are designed to shortchange the victims of negligence and hurry them into signing paperwork that will ensure they cannot sue the hospital in the future.
Expertise Is Required
There are many different types of surgical errors with varying levels of severity. There are some surgical errors that should never occur, such as an operation on the wrong body part or performing the wrong type of surgery.
The hospital is counting on your lack of knowledge about medical malpractice to convince you to accept their offer. If you want a fair settlement, a lawyer’s expertise is required to negotiate with a hospital to ensure you get fair compensation.
To Help You Understand Your Case
Although a surgical error may seem straightforward, there are many factors at play in your case that you likely haven’t considered yet, especially when it comes to establishing negligence and assessing the medical complexities and severity of the error. An experienced attorney will review all pertinent information with you.
Gathering information and reviewing specific paperwork are tasks that a surgical error lawyer is trained to efficiently accomplish on your behalf. Only when you have a solid understanding of your case can you make a sensible decision on whether to accept a settlement offer. Acting otherwise is not in your best interest.
To Determine the Liability and Value of the Damages
It might seem easy to assign the blame for your surgical error to the healthcare worker who committed the blunder. However, sometimes assigning liability in surgical error cases can be more complicated and include the hospital as a liable party. The hospital knows that and could be offering you a settlement because they want to avoid a lawsuit with liability directed at them. You need a lawyer to help you determine who is ultimately responsible for the error.
Similarly, assessing the damages requires specific knowledge. Since the hospital isn’t considering the damages in your case, you need an attorney to understand all of the damages in your case and how much those damages are worth. A hospital will not assist you this way.
You Deserve Justice
Even if you are tempted to take a hospital’s initial offer, it’s never a good idea to do it alone. A lawyer will negotiate with the hospital on your behalf and ensure that you aren’t taking less money than you deserve. You have the right to fair compensation if you are a victim of a surgeon’s negligence. An attorney will act as your advocate to negotiate with the hospital to ensure you get a fair settlement.
Surgical error cases are serious, and hospitals offer settlements as a way to avoid litigation. You deserve justice, and an initial settlement from a hospital is not designed to help you get it. It is crucial to speak to an experienced attorney if a hospital has offered you a settlement so that you can better understand your case and get fair compensation for the damages.
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