You have the right to file a lawsuit against a negligent medical practitioner for any injuries and damages sustained due to their medical malpractice.
Medical malpractice claims exist in many different forms, and there is a tendency to exploit the system by filing for multiple claims for the same injuries. The victims of practitioner’s negligence are inclined to overreach by setting very high settlement demands, which causes a lot of financial strain for the defendant.
Thankfully, there are certain extents to what you can and cannot do when filing a medical malpractice lawsuit. In this article, we discuss the four major limitations of tort reforms that you need to watch out for when you are filing for medical malpractice.
Limited Lawsuits
Filing a lawsuit is the last cause of action you take when all other methods of resolving the dispute between you and the defendant have failed.
There have been cases where medical malpractice victims have filed multiple claims for the same injuries. As such, the medical practitioner ends up paying hefty sums of money in settlements.
Additionally, their insurance providers end up hiking their premium rates as a result of claim settlement fees (the plaintiff’s settlement is extended to the hospital’s insurance provider).
Multiple lawsuits charged against a practitioner for one mistake encourages defensive treatment, whereby the doctor focuses more on keeping himself safe instead of figuring out the most effective way of treating your health problem.
Consequently, the doctor ends up making more mistakes, such as offering low-quality services.
Limited lawsuits facilitate lawsuits that are known to be directly caused by the medical malpractice such as wrongful death. This insistence ensures that the filed medical malpractices are legit and have solid grounds.
Reduced Statutes of Limitations
The law requires you to file your medical malpractice claim within a specified period after the occurrence of the incident, usually three years. The statute of limitations is aimed at ensuring that important sources of evidence such as medical bills are properly assessed to ascertain their credibility.
Tort reforms look to reduce the statute of limitations to less than three years, in order to prompt the victim to file their claims earlier.
Consequently, filing a medical malpractice claim after the period stated in the statute of limitation in your state is ground for dismissal, seeing that the claim is deemed to be expired.
You need to seek legal counsel from an experienced medical malpractice attorney and get information about the tort reforms in your respective state.
Limited Damages
Your medical malpractice lawyer Michigan assesses your claim and advises you on the most reasonable amount you can receive for the injuries sustained due to the practitioner’s negligence.
However, there is an inclination (especially is a jury hearing) to vilify a medical practitioner for their mistake and awarding extremely high settlements for malpractice claim.
These high settlements have a negative impact in the long-run, seeing that within a short period, the cost of accessing medical care will rise in an attempt to cover overhead costs. High insurance premiums force the health facilities to increase the cost of medical care, which eventually lands on the shoulders of the patient.
Therefore, tort reforms look to set a cap for the maximum amount of monetary settlements for various medical malpractice claims, which in turn translates to lower settlements for the defendants.
Limited Legal Fees
Another tort limitation that discourages meritless medical malpractice lawsuits is setting a limit on the amount of money your medical malpractice lawyer gets from the settlement.
Subsequently, your lawyer will be root for settlement outside the court because there is a higher probability of getting a bigger cut than from a settlement hearing in court.
Alternative Resolution Methods
The court orders both parties to seek common ground outside the court, which decreases the costs and resolution time.
Additionally, the case needs to go through a screening panel that assesses the legitimacy of the evidence and advice on possible outcomes.
Deposition and trial also add on to the total time required to reach a settlement verdict. The long process discourages victims from filing unnecessary claims against negligent medical practitioners, reducing backlogs in the courts.
Conclusion
The tort reforms discussed above are important because they reduce the courts’ inefficiency, which is caused by unnecessary lawsuits. Therefore, ensure that you seek legal counsel from an experienced medical malpractice lawyer who will not only help you assess the legitimacy of your claim, but also devise the best strategy to get you a settlement.