Preserving Evidence Of Medical Malpractice
Availability of evidence forms the backbone of every personal injury case. Gathering and preserving strong evidence is even more crucial in medical malpractice cases, which involve technical issues the average person may not understand easily. Here are three measures to help you preserve medical malpractice evidence:
Record Your Doctor
One of the things you will have to do, after getting injured by a doctor's negligence, is to get corrective treatment. For example, if a surgeon did not close off a surgical site properly, you need to have the anomaly corrected.
In some cases, the doctor treating you will acknowledge (during private consultations) that the first doctor made a mistake. However, the second physician may be reluctant to testify to his or her colleague's negligence when the issue comes up in court. The "conspiracy of silence" doctors (and their insurers) use to shield their colleagues is to blame for this.
Therefore, if your state allows it, record your physician and use the recording later as evidence. Some states allow it while others require you to get the physician's consent; confirm this first so you don't do anything illegal. Make sure you record the whole conversation (to provide context) and don't alter the recording in any way if you want it to pass muster.
Get Your Medical Records Fast
Another measure is to get your medical records, confirm their accuracy, and make copies. You can't rely on your memory to remember all the facts; after all, medical malpractice cases can take a long time. Do this as soon as you can to prevent problems created by "lost" or altered errors; you never know what a person or organization may do to avoid a lawsuit.
The main problem (with delaying) is not that the records may get lost, but rather that you may not know their accuracy if a long time elapses before you scrutinize them. If you request for the records immediately, you can pick out any errors because your memory will still be fresh.
Keep Drug Receipts and Bottles
A medical malpractice may also occur due to the administration of wrong drugs. For example, there are drugs that can harm you if you take them concurrently. A medical professional who prescribes such drugs, and ends up harming you, may be liable for your injuries.
Therefore, don't throw away your drug bottles whether or not you are done taking them. Keep prescriptions and receipts of drug purchase too. Such things are handy when investigating drug-related malpractices.
Preserving evidence makes it easy for your malpractice attorney to handle your case. However, don't despair if you haven't kept all the pieces of evidence you should have kept. It may be hard, but not impossible, for an experienced lawyer to pursue your case successfully. Contact a law firm such as Baudler, Maus, Forman, Kritzer & Wagner, LLP for more information about how to proceed.