Frequently Asked Questions: Medical Malpractice

Have your case reviewed by a medical malpractice specialist. The average person (and the average attorney) simply does not have the training and experience to recognize a malpractice case when they see one. Each year doctors get away with thousands of cases of medical malpractice because the wrong people are reviewing the case, or because a lawyer who is not a medical malpractice specialist makes a mistake which results in the case being lost.

Nothing. Our Dallas and Little Rock medical malpractice lawyers work on a contingency fee basis, which means that we only get paid if you do. We will review your case free of charge. If we proceed with your case, our fee will be taken from the money we recover for you. If you do not recover damages, we do not get paid.

Absolutely not.  We take good care of our clients.  You and your family will be safe and protected-- always.  We will do all the work in your case.

The value of any medical malpractice claim is dependent on a variety of factors that are unique to the specifics of the case. We cannot give you an estimate as to what your case will be worth until we have examined all of the evidence and spoken with all witnesses involved. Our experienced lawyers will be happy to provide you with a free consultation in order to assess the value of your claim and advise you as to the best way to proceed.

As a general rule, you have no more than two years to file suit from the date that the medical malpractice occurred. But that is only a very general rule.

DON'T DELAY!  We have seen too many cases lost because the injured patient thought she had more time than she did.  You may need to act as soon as six months from the date of your treatment.  Critical evidence can be lost every day.  There is no reason to wait, and the consultation with us is free.

Our Dallas and Little Rock medical malpractice lawyers know the complex statutes of limitations governing these claims, and we will make sure your case is filed by all appropriate deadlines.

Under Texas law, medical malpractice is negligent conduct by a doctor, nurse, hospital, or other health care provider. In order to achieve a successful outcome to your case, you must prove that the medical professional "failed to do that which a doctor of ordinary prudence would have done under the same or similar circumstances."  Simply "making a mistake" is not enough.  You will need to prove that the mistake is one that would not be made by a prudent doctor in the same circumstances.

Not if your doctor hurt you or your family by medical malpractice.  All doctors and all hospitals have medical malpractice insurance precisely to compensate people they hurt if they make a mistake.  Your suit doesn't hurt them at all--it just costs their insurance company money.

Suing a doctor for medical malpractice is no different than suing another driver for being negligent and causing a car wreck.  There is no reason a sloppy doctor should get away with hurting you any more than a sloppy driver should be given a pass and leave you with no compensation for your injuries.

Do you think your doctor would hesitate to sue you if you ran a red light and hit his car?  Of course not.  Doctors who run "medical red lights" and break the rules of their profession are subject to our laws and our courts just like anybody else.

No. Doctors and other health care providers have a duty to act prudently and pay attention to what they are doing, but they aren't expected to be perfect or to perform miracles. Just because there was a bad result from medical treatment does not mean that the doctor is guilty of medical malpractice. For a medical malpractice case to be successful, a patient must prove that the bad result was due to the doctor's negligence. If the doctor was not negligent, then there is no medical malpractice case no matter how bad the result of the treatment.

Maybe. Proving that a doctor committed medical malpractice is half of what a patient needs to prove. The other half of a medical malpractice case is proving that the doctor's mistake is what caused your injuries. A doctor can be negligent, but that does not necessarily result in additional injuries. For example, if a doctor fails to diagnose cancer in a patient whose cancer has already progressed to the point that it will surely kill him, the patient has not suffered any additional injuries from this malpractice. As a result, the patient would not have a valid medical malpractice claim against the doctor.

Sometimes the answer to that question is pretty obvious.  If a doctor cuts the wrong thing, or leaves a pair of scissors in your body during surgery, its clear to anybody that his mistake made a difference.  Sometimes it isn't so clear, like in cases where a diagnosis was delayed and earlier treatment might not have cured the disease.  In most cases, the best way to know is to have your case reviewed by medical malpractice lawyers and medical experts who will tell the truth about what happened. 

At Polewski & Associates, our Dallas and Little Rock medical malpractice team has decades of experience handling these complex cases. One of our lawyers is also a  medical doctor, and we have contacts with top flight medical experts who will investigate your case to uncover the truth. If there was medical malpractice, we'll find it, and we'll give you the straight truth.