If you’ve been the victim of a healthcare professional’s negligence, you may be eligible to receive compensation for your medical bills and other such losses you incurred due to their carelessness. You can pursue the compensation you’re owed by filing a medical malpractice claim with the insurance of the negligent doctor or healthcare facility. If they won’t offer a fair settlement, you can sue, seeking damages in court.
Be aware that the insurer of a negligent party in these circumstances won’t be inclined to pay you what you’re owed necessarily. Their goal may be to minimize your payout. If you go to court, a team of lawyers may employ a range of defenses in an attempt to prevent you from receiving compensation.
The defenses an insurer or lawyer might use when you’ve filed a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit can vary somewhat depending on the nature of your case. However, the following are some common tactics:
A Consequence Was Unforeseeable
Various forms of treatment carry with them some degree of risk. It’s part of a doctor’s job to understand these risks, explain them to their patients, and take steps to mitigate them.
There are some instances when the consequences a patient experiences as a result of undergoing treatment are unforeseeable. Thus, when patients file medical malpractice claims, a common defense is to suggest that a doctor could not have predicted a patient would face a certain consequence as a result of treatment, and therefore was not required to guard against said consequence or warn a patient about it.
Another Party is to Blame
Sometimes, the target of a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit will attempt to avoid liability by shifting the blame to another party.
For example, perhaps a patient sustains an injury while undergoing a surgical operation. They may respond by filing a claim against the surgeon and the hospital that employs them. Both the hospital and surgeon might in turn respond by claiming that the manufacturer of a piece of equipment that was used during the operation is actually the negligent party.
A Patient is to Blame
Carefully following a doctor’s instructions when you’re undergoing treatment is essential. This is primarily because failure to do so could minimize the effectiveness of your treatment.
Additionally, if a patient doesn’t closely follow all of a doctor’s recommendations, and said patient later files a medical malpractice suit, they may struggle to receive the compensation they’re seeking if a doctor can point out that a patient may have been harmed because they didn’t heed medical advice. Essentially, this defense involves claiming a patient was harmed as a result of their own negligence.
None of this is meant to intimidate you. It’s still possible to receive a proper settlement or be awarded damages in court if you’ve been a victim of medical malpractice.
However, it’s important to know that winning such cases can be challenging if you don’t have representation from experts who understand common medical malpractice defenses.
At the Weitz Firm, LLC, you’ll find a Philadelphia medical malpractice attorney who’s thoroughly familiar with the many ways insurance companies and negligent parties may attempt to avoid paying claimants. They’ll leverage that understanding to help you build a strong case. Learn more by contacting us online or calling us at 267-587-6240.
