While health care providers are obligated to exercise the highest standard of care for every patient, there are many cases where mistakes occur that result in serious injury or even death. If you or a loved one suffered a serious injury due to medical malpractice in Colorado, you might be entitled to monetary damages.
The following are the basic, initial steps to filing a medical malpractice case. In Colorado, the statute of limitations for filing a medical practice claim is two years after the date of the incident.
Contact the Health Care Provider Involved
The first step is to contact the doctor or medical professional who works with you prior to filing the claim. The primary task is to gain an understanding of what had gone wrong and allow the health care provider to figure out whether the injury or illness can be remedied. Medical professional are often willing to perform services – sometimes free of charge – to correct an issue.
Contact the Medical Licensing Board
If the medical professional doesn’t help the situation, you may contact the licensing board which governs medical licenses. Although you cannot recover compensation from the licensing board, they can issue warnings or penalties to the health care provider, as well as guide you the next steps.
Obtain a Medical Assessment to Confirm Your Case Has Merit
You may have to file a “certificate of merit” to determine that the injuries you sustained were caused by the negligent actions of a medical provider. In order to file a certificate of merit, you need to contact an expert – typically a physician – to review your medical records and certify that the original health care professional deviated from accepted medical practices, resulting in your injuries. The lawyer you hire will now file the certificate of merit, which confirms that you met with a medical expert and that your action possesses merit.
If you suffered a serious injury due to the negligence of a medical professional, contact our Denver medical malpractice lawyer at Denver Trial Lawyers ® today.
