How Do You Prove a Psychiatric Malpractice Lawsuit?
There’s no getting around it: Medical malpractice lawsuits are challenging to win, no matter how the medical professional has damaged your health. When it comes to litigation against a psychiatrist, the consequences are not only frustrating, but often frightening, as well. The plaintiff of a psychiatric malpractice lawsuit has the burden of proving their psychiatrist’s negligence and how it impacted their life and prove how they were injured.
What Do I Have to Prove in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
The onus is on you, the patient, to prove you were harmed by your psychiatrist. That means the biggest obstacles in your way include proving that the psychiatrist’s conduct constituted negligence, convincing a jury the doctor was in the wrong, and finding a suitable medical malpractice attorney to present your case. The most difficult of these challenges is proving medical negligent.
How Do You Prove Mental Injuries in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit?
Mental injuries are much more difficult to prove than physical ones. It’s just as simple as that. For example, how can you prove you suffered from SSRI discontinuation syndrome when your psychiatrist took you off your antidepressant medication and assert with confidence it was due to their negligence? Is it possible to prove your psychiatrist misdiagnosed you with major depressive disorder when you really should have been diagnosed with bipolar disorder? These questions can be difficult to answer.
According to the National Institutes of Health, one of the most common reasons psychiatrists are sued is for failing to assess a suicidal patient or not adequately responding to the patient’s friends or relatives who voice their concern to the psychiatrist. Under the law, mental health professionals are required to report a patient’s suicidality to the appropriate sources or they can be sued for medical malpractice.
Our Woodstock Medical Malpractice Attorneys Can Help
With all these hurdles in your way, you may think you’re out of luck for getting the compensation you deserve from a less-than-dutiful psychiatrist. Don’t let your embarrassment of the situation stop you from seeking help from a skilled medical malpractice attorney who can inform you of your legal rights and assess your situation. People can and do win medical malpractice lawsuits against negligent psychiatrists – it’s just up to you to come forward to proclaim it.
To contact The Dickinson Law Firm, LLC for a free, no-obligation consultation, please call our Woodstock medical malpractice law firm at (770) 924-8155 or reach out online for a quick response.
