How Do Attorneys Analyze Medical Malpractice Cases?

Transcript: Hi, I’m Indiana personal injury attorney David Holub.

Most medical malpractice attorneys try their best to work through a case with potential callers trying to analyze whether they might have a claim or whether it be cost prohibitive to proceed with a claim.

For example, suppose a caller calls us about a stroke victim who was taken to the hospital promptly and that caller has learned that there is a particular medication that can be given by injection after a stroke within three hours which will reverse most of the situation and most of the damage that’s caused by a stroke. And so the person says, “I told the emergency room doctor to give that injection and nobody gave the injection and now I want to sue.” Well, is it really that simple? Does that equate to malpractice? Well, in reality, no, because there’s a contraindication for that medication.

If you’re on blood thinners or you have other pre-existing conditions, if that medication is given, it will kill the patient. So doctors have a careful responsibility to evaluate whether it is appropriate to give such medication or not. And it requires, at least from an attorney’s perspective, a review of the medical records to see if there are clear contraindications for such an injection. Important too in the case of a stroke victim would be how well the patient actually recovered.

If a patient would be expected to recover in two or three weeks if they’d been given the shot, but they still make a full recovery in four months of physical therapy, that’s an important factor to determine whether or not a case of malpractice should be pursued, even if the evidence shows that the injection should have been given. Sometimes when an attorney takes a medical negligence case it’s important to look at all the medical records, and the law is set-up so that clients can get their own medical records for, most of the time, for free, but it’s very expensive to have attorneys get medical records.

So, when we’re talking with potential clients we generally insist that they get the medical records before we consult with them. That’s all for this video. We have many other informational videos at our website. Feel free to check them out.