There's an old joke that goes like this: the Greek mythological symbol for Ophiuchus and also the Biblical symbol depicting the cure for illness both feature a single serpent curled around a staff, but the American Medical Association's symbol depicts two serpents curled around a staff. Why are there two serpents instead of one? One serpent is to cure the patient from the illness; the other serpent is to cure the patient from the doctor.
There is nothing worse than being ill, going to a doctor, trusting his diagnosis, undergoing his prescribed treatment, and ending up in a worse situation than you were before you consulted with the doctor in the first place. This is the nature of medical malpractice - you trust your doctor, they make an error in judgment or treatment and you become more ill than you were before. Then an expensive lawsuit is initiated and it takes years to settle. Often what happens is the doctor and/or the insurance company covering the doctor tries to delay any settlement for as long as possible so that the unfortunate victim has to wait years before the can receive their deserved compensation or a reduced settlement. In the worst case scenario, the case is ruled against the victim in court and fails to receive any compensation at all for the injury, pain, suffering and anguish that they may have suffered.
Doctors Injure or Kill More people Than Do Many Diseases
More than a million medical malpractice lawsuits are brought against doctors each year in the USA. Medical malpractice is one of the leading causes of wrongful death in the U.S. killing over 80,000 people every year. There are 1.3 million injuries caused by medication mistakes every year in the U.S.A.. Most doctors will face a medical malpractice at least once in their career, and 11 per cent of doctors who have been in practice for 40 years or more have open malpractice claims against them. The highest expense item for a medical doctor's practice every year is medical malpractice insurance.
Medical malpractice suits can be brought against doctors, hospitals, surgeons, therapists, health care facilities, and pharmaceutical/drug companies. Medical malpractice cases arise from the medical practitioner's action or inaction; the most common ones are medical misdiagnosis, surgical errors, infections contracted in a hospital and injuries incurred during childbirth to either the mother or the baby.
Four Elements Necessary to Begin a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Once a person has been injured due to a physician or facility action or inaction a medical malpractice lawsuit may be initiated. There are four elements to a medical malpractice suit: (i) the physician or facility had to have owed a duty to the plaintiff; (ii) that duty was in some way breached; (iii) the breach caused an injury or death and damage was suffered; either physical, financial or emotional or all.
Once it has been determined that one or all of these elements have occurred in a particular case an attorney or law firm may initiate a malpractice litigation lawsuit.
So Why do Medical Malpractice lawsuits take so long to settle?
Medical malpractice litigation can be a very prolonged and drawn-out process. There are many reasons for this. First, expert medical testimony is required in order to convince a judge or jury that malpractice indeed has taken place. Secondly, insurance companies are very good at sensing which plaintiffs or law firms are least able to afford a long, drawn-out case and they will then deliberately further delay the process.
Forbes magazine once stated in an article that medical malpractice cases often seem endless "because they are". The world-renowned think tank the RAND Corporation has stated that the system of American malpractice litigation is "inefficient" because of the enormous length of time it takes to resolve cases.
Non-Recourse Funding is the Solution when “What Do I Do” is the question.
When you are injured because of medical malpractice and you need money to pay for medical expenses, loss of income and attorneys' fees. What do you do? You call one of the finest lawsuit funding companies -- Nationwide Litigation Funding. We help you obtain non-recourse funding to pay for all these expenses until the case settles or you win your verdict and you are finally awarded the money you deserve. Non-recourse funding from Nationwide Litigation Funding is not a loan - if you do not win your case you are not required to repay the money you received. Non-Recourse funding allows the plaintiff to carry on with their life, paying medical bills and living expenses until the case is settled or won. Also, law firms use the cash infusion to continue operating their business and to grow - without tying up their own capital.
Non-recourse funding has many advantages over a loan from a financial institution. A bank loan requires a different level of credit-worthiness, employment verification and monthly payments and has to be paid back either whether you win or lose. Non-recourse funding from Nationwide Litigation Funding has different requirements and if you don't end up winning the case, the funds do not have to be repaid. Nationwide Litigation Funding is one of the finest lawsuit funding companies because our primary source of funds are private investors.