How To Protect Your Legal Rights After An Accident

Protecting your legal rights after an injury can be a difficult thing. Your emotions may be running high during this time, especially if you're involved in a slip-and-fall, a car crash or something similar. Our bodies are easily confused when we enter fight or flight mode with adrenaline running through our systems. What you do and say after an injury is truly important if you wish to stay within the legal boundaries of protection. Here are the steps to take if u r injured to protect your legal rights:

Step 1. Stay Where You Are

Remain at the scene of the car accident or injury scene. Your first priority should be to gather identity information and any insurance details for you and anyone involved in the accident. Call the police and let them know that you're injured and need help. If you can, take note of any bystanders or witnesses and take down their name and contact information.

Step 2. Check For Serious Injuries

Slowly check and see if you can move. Do a visual inspection and see where you're hurt. Do a scan of the site and see if there are other people injured or in need of medical attention.

Step 3. Cooperate Fully With The Authorities

Police may or may not arrive at the scene of the accident, but it helps to fully cooperate with them if they come. You may call 911 if you experience a significant work or at-home injury. You should understand your surroundings when cooperating with the law enforcement people. It is important that you take a neutral stance and not commit to any fault. Injuries may not appear after some time has elapsed following the aftermath of the accident.

Step 4. Document All Evidence

Take out your phone and start taking evidence with your phone's built in camera. Take pictures of the scene, of the people involved and the things that caused the injury. You should take visual and mental evidence of the property damage and the car positions if involved in a car crash.

Step 5. Get Proper Medical Attention

Get the proper medical attention you need after suffering an injury or an accident. Remember that your well-being is on the line. This is also important for when you're filing for insurance claims. Do this as soon as you can, because any delay can give your insurance company reason to challenge any claims filed later.

Step 6. Call A Personal Injury Lawyer

A personal injury attorney is one of the best weapons you can have when you want to protect your legal rights after an accident. They can give guidance on what to do and how to deal with the proceedings of insurance companies. A personal injury lawyer can also help you with your case to give you a better chance for successfully filing for compensation.

Step 7. Call Your Insurance Agent

Notify your insurance agent about the injury that happened. It is important that you remain neutral and not admit fault. In cases where other people are involved, have their insurance adjusters contact your personal injury lawyer and have them take over from there.

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Can You Sue a Doctor for Emotional Distress?

During patient diagnosis and treatment, a doctor might make a mistake. Such a mistake might not necessarily result in a physical injury. For instance, a misdiagnosis can be emotionally traumatic, while patient mistreatment can be psychologically damaging. Such injurious acts by health professionals, whether carried out intentionally or negligently, can make you suffer from mental stress and anguish, but can you sue a doctor for emotional distress? Here's a look:

Suing for Emotional Distress

Emotional distress lawsuits can be tricky to win especially when their is no tangible evidence of suffering from the plaintiff. For such cases, it is hard to prove unless the plaintiff is convincing, backed by evidence, that the conduct of the defendant was extreme and outrageous. Lawsuits falling under the category of emotional distress are split into two different types:

Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress: Under this category, the plaintiff must have suffered some emotional or mental suffering due to the extreme experience. The psychological distress may include issues such as panic, self-guilt, anxiety, depression, and suicidal thoughts.

Intentional Infliction of Emotional Distress: Here, the plaintiff suffers from severe emotional suffering as a result of the doctor's outrageous or extreme conduct. The actions of the plaintiff must have been intentional or carried out recklessly.

For claims based on negligence, the cases might be barred in various states based on the presence or lack of physical injury. Some states don't allow emotional distress claims particularly in cases where the suffering is a direct result of physical injury. Conversely, other states require the plaintiff to demonstrate or show evidence of the physical harm suffered or illness that has resulted from the emotional distress. And other states limit NIED claims strictly to emotional distress that is experienced directly or as a bystander within a region of physical danger.

When it comes to the second emotional distress claims based on intentional conduct, it all depends on how the terms are defined. First, it has to be determined whether the conduct of the medical practitioner was outrageous or extreme. Secondly, it has to be determined if the defendant's acts were intentional or reckless. Finally, you will be required to clarify whether the emotional distress was severe.

Proving Emotional Distress Claims

Having a solid prove of the elements of an emotional distress claim can be challenging. As the plaintiff, you are required to obtain a medical report an orthopedists or psychologists detailing the physical or emotional injuries suffered. To prove emotional distress, you need to show that the mental anguish was intense and lengthy. As well, the more severe or violent the underlying conduct was, the more likely you'll be able to link your distress to that conduct.

Due to the technicalities involved in the emotional distress lawsuits, it is advisable to seek the services of an experienced personal injury attorney. http://popickrutman.com/ contact us 718-321-7460

Common Surgical Errors: When To Sue For Injuries

Common Surgical Errors: When To Sue For Injuries  

Believe it or not, the most common surgical errors happen not on the most complex of operations, but on the most-performed procedures. Even when the surgery itself is successful, a lot can happen post-procedure. Medical negligence and other factors can lead to long-lasting health concerns for the patient.

How does one know when to sue for damages when medical surgical malpractices occur? Here's some common surgical errors: when to sue for injuries:

1. Nerve Damage

Your surgeon could have been focused on bringing you back to optimal health, but chances are he or she could be opening up a whole slew of medical problems. Scalpels are razor sharp and can cause incorrect incisions where the operation is occurring. It can lead to nerve damage and punctured lungs, which can lead to disability, constant pain and suffering.

2. Administering Anesthesia Incorrectly

Anesthesia is used in many surgical procedures, but some of the most common errors involve mix-ups, which can have potentially fatal effects. Too much anesthesia, and the patient may be left with too little oxygen to function. This can cause brain damage and eventually, death. Too little anesthesia, and the patient could be awake the entire time and experience extreme pain.

3. Wrong Side Surgery

You may not believe it, but wrong side surgery happens frequently each year in hospitals all over the United States. A procedure where a patient had his healthy kidney removed, while the diseased kidney was left to fester in the body happened just recently. In one hospital, a man had a wrong leg amputated by a careless doctor.

4. Wrong Patient Surgery

There were cases where doctors incorrectly operated for the wrong procedure. Errors like this are caused by poor hospital protocol, general lack of communication between the patient and surgeon and an absence of pre-operative verification. The usual cases include removal of perfectly healthy organs and when patients don't get the surgery they were admitted for.

5. Foreign Object Infection

Would you believe that doctors can sometimes forget and leave clamps, gauze or scalpels in the patient's body after a successful operation? This could potentially result in severe bodily infections, excruciating pain and can even be fatal for the patient. This can certainly be prevented with a standard material checklist.

Mistakes are understandable because we are only human, but in cases where life and death are on the line, the surgeons must be held accountable. If you have been a victim of a surgical error, then it is within your right to sue for damages. Call an experienced medical malpractice lawyer who can help you with your right to be compensated for your suffering, pain or loss of income.

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So, you are wondering what are the differences between a personal injury and worker's compensation case.

So, you are wondering what are the differences between a personal injury and worker's compensation case. In this post, we have set forth a few main differences between these two types of options.

1. A personal injury claim is based on fault

One of the biggest differences between these two types of cases is that a personal injury claim is based on fault while a worker's compensation case isn't. Let's take a slip and fall case as an example. For the victim to be able to win the personal injury case and recover damages, they must prove in the court that the incident is due to the negligence of the owner to maintain their property. Meanwhile, with worker's compensation claim, they need not prove that their co-worker or employer committed a negligence to be able to get compensation benefits. Furthermore, even if the victim’s own negligence is the main cause of the injury while at work, they will still be entitled to receive compensation benefits.

2. With worker's compensation case, the victim cannot sue their co-worker or employer

Laws that cover worker's compensation case state that workers who were injured while doing their job would get their medical bills paid and would get benefits every week. However, they cannot sue their co-workers or employers for negligence. On top of that, they will also lose the right to collect damages for their pain and suffering. On the other hand, in personal injury claims, the victim has the chance to recover different damages. Some of these damages include medical bills, pain and suffering, lost earnings, loss of enjoyment of life, and more.

3. Financial responsibility

In a personal injury case, the employer or co-worker may be covered by insurance policies, such as an automotive insurance policy or business insurance policy. In a few cases, however, they may need to pay for the damages. In the meantime, in a worker's compensation case, the benefits will be paid by the employer's insurance company.

4. The process of pursuing the case

With worker's compensation, the victim and their lawyer may file a claim in the employer's insurance company. They may need to follow a few protocols, though, such as reporting the injury to the supervisor within a specific period of time. They may also need to be examined by the company's physician. With a personal injury claim, however, the victim may need to file a claim through the employer's insurance company. Their lawyer may negotiate for the claim. However, if the claim is denied, they may file a lawsuit against the defendant.

If you are among those people who have suffered a work-related injury, you have to consult a lawyer today to learn more about your rights and your options.

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