Why Medical Malpractice Victims Don’t Come Forward

Share

A common misconception about medical malpractice is that they are frivolous lawsuits without merit. Another common yet false belief about medical malpractice involves the belief that these lawsuits are unfounded and result in nothing more than increasing already high healthcare costs.

But recent studies have confirmed that none of these claims are true. In fact, many medical malpractice victims do have legal cause for filing a case but choose not to come forward for a variety of reasons.

Medical Malpractice Statistics

In 2016 a Johns Hopkins Hospital research team discovered that medical mistakes result in 250,000 deaths each year. But a 2013 National Practitioner Data Bank report noted that only a little over 3,000 medical malpractice claims resulted in payments for wrongful death lawsuits. We can clearly see that most victims of medical malpractice do not come forward to seek the services of a medical malpractice attorney.

Realizing They Were a Victim

A 2016 report in the Journal of the American Medical Association Surgery reported that only 55% of all surgeons claimed they would apologize to a patient and let them know that the medical mistake they made had been preventable.

Without being informed that a mistake had been made, most of us would not realize we needed to seek out the knowledge of a personal injury attorney to assist in our medical malpractice case.

Victims Blaming Themselves

Commonly we believe that a lack of recovery might be because we didn't follow instructions as much as we could have in order to facilitate that recovery, or that we could have prevented the injury ourselves. In cases of birth injuries, for example, it is common for birth mothers to blame themselves for any injury that might have happened to the baby.

Reluctance to Sue the Doctor

Doctors are well-respected in our society. They also hold a significant degree of respect from our communities. Coming forward to allege that our doctors are responsible for the injuries that we or our loved ones have can be a painful decision to make.

This can be especially true if you’ve been seeing your doctor for a long period of time, have come to know them on a personal level, and have put your full faith and trust into this person.

Uncertainty About Winning a Case

Lawyers from powerful insurance companies will be representing the doctors and other medical professionals in lawsuits. This, combined with the reputation of medical malpractice lawsuits as being frivolous, can make victims unsure about their ability to win, even with the help of an experienced medical malpractice attorney.

In these circumstances, it is imperative for anyone who believes they have been a victim of medical malpractice to contact a personal injury attorney immediately. The attorneys at The Moore Law Firm has a combined experience of 50 years in the legal field handling medical malpractice claims and no legal fees will be charged unless we win.

That means that malpractice victims won’t have to worry about costs for a lawyer, as they will not pay any fees unless it is proven in court that they were, in fact, victims of medical malpractice.

Contact us today at (513) 232-2000 to schedule a free initial consultation with our Cincinnati personal injury attorneys.

Get in Touch

If you have been injured or have lost a loved one as a result of another person's negligence, you deserve to be fully compensated for your losses. The simple fact is that you should not be forced to pay the price for another person's careless or reckless actions.