Making a Medical Negligence Claim
Even more than for other personal injury law claims, it is vital that you contact a personal injury lawyer before you make a medical negligence compensation claim.
This is because hospitals and doctors have their own legal representation, and even if you have been wrongly cared for, it is difficult to fight your case alone.Once you contact us, we will take your statement and give you our initial professional assessment about your claim. Then, we will begin our investigation into the negligence which caused your injury. This means we will need to obtain all medical records and certificates from your doctors, and possibly seek a second or third medical opinion as well.
Proving negligence
You will win a medical negligence claim if you can prove that the healthcare provider could or should have foreseen that their actions would lead to your injury. To determine this, the Court decides if the healthcare provider acted in a way that was widely accepted by peer professional opinion (at the time of the injury) as competent professional practice. There must be an established connection between what the healthcare provider did (or didn’t do) and your injury. This can include a lack of appropriate communication between you and your healthcare provider.For example, if your doctor prescribes you with a medication to treat a condition, and neglects to inform you of risks or severe side effects which you later suffer, you are eligible to sue under medical negligence.
Other examples of malpractice include:
- A wrong or delayed diagnosis (when it can be said that the medical practitioner should have known, based on their ‘duty of care’, the correct diagnosis)
- Failure to give the correct treatment or medication (or a prescription of too much medication)
- Failure to warn of disease or potential conditions
- Failure to return correct test results
- Problems resulting from careless surgeries
- Failure to sterilise, or failure to properly monitor a pregnancy or birth
If you believe you have been injured as a result of medical negligence you should:
1. Contact Stacks/Compensation to receive an assessment on whether you have a claim that is likely to be successful.2. We will investigate your claim.
3. After investigation, we will advise you on your next step. For example, if medical malpractice resulted in death, we may suggest that you send a report to the Coroner’s Court. Or we may recommend that you make a report to the Health Care Complaints Commission of New South Wales, or the Health Rights Commission of Queensland. If you have been injured or suffered illness as a result of medical negligence / medical malpractice, call one of our medical negligence specialists on freecall number
1300 168 821
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