Before you can recover damages in a delay in medical care case, you must prove that the injury you suffered was caused by the delay in medical treatment and not the underlying medical condition. Specifically, you must convince the court that it was not your asthma attack, heart attack, stroke, ruptured brain aneurysm, or other medical condition that caused your injury, and that you would not have suffered the injury but for the unreasonable delay in your medical care.
You Will Need Evidence
Your word is not enough. Instead, you will need to provide compelling and legally admissible evidence to prove that you were hurt and to prove the value of your damages.
Almost every case will require a copy of your medical records. The court will need to know why you went to the emergency room or hospital and what treatment you received. Additionally, you will need emergency room or hospital records that show what time you arrived at the emergency room and when you were triaged and treated.
Other helpful evidence could include:
- Emergency room or hospital procedures
- Emergency room or hospital staffing records
- Emergency room or hospital staff training records
- Testimony from the staff on duty or hospital administrators
- Expert testimony
- Medical journals or articles that establish the standard of care that should be provided to someone who presented with your symptoms
You can help your lawyer gather the right evidence by explaining exactly what happened to you at the emergency room or hospital.
How to Get Evidence
A lot of the evidence you need in a successful delay-in-treatment case is in the defendant’s control. Accordingly, you need an experienced lawyer to ask for the evidence in a legally compelling way. According to the Rules of Civil Procedure, your lawyer could request written interrogatories, depositions, or documents in a way that compels the defendant to provide the requested information.
For more tips about protecting your recovery after a delay in treatment leaves you hurt, please contact Gray and White Law today for a free, no-obligation consultation.