Have you heard of medico legal services Perth but you don’t know much about it? Well, if this is the case, today is your lucky day. In this article, we will be discussing medical negligence claims.
What is a medico-legal liability report in medical negligence claims?
A medico-legal liability report is a report that is prepared by a doctor, clinical officer, or any other medical specialist for use as evidence in legal proceedings. This report, which is also know as an Expert Liability Report sets out the opinion of the medical specialist as to certain aspects of the claims of the claimant. The following two general questions will be addressed by a typical medico-legal report:
– Did the doctor act negligently?
– As a result of the negligence, did the claimant suffer any damage or loss?
Why are medico-legal liability reports needed in medical negligence claims?
You can start proceedings on claims of medical negligence and continue to hearing, in theory, without relying upon this report. However, if you proceed without the report, your chances of winning the hearing are very slim.
In practice, you will require evidence from similarly trained medical professionals if you want your attorney to convince a judge that you received negligent treatment from your doctors, health care givers, or nurses. The medical professionals should be ready to state clearly that the treatment you received was below the set standards and that you suffered damage or loss as a result.
Rest assured that the insurer of your doctor will seek such an opinion from another similarly trained professional to ensure that you lose the case and set it out in a medico-legal report. If you don’t have this report, your claim will fail.
Why is it important for your lawyer to request this report?
A medico-legal liability report requested by your lawyer in anticipation of legal proceedings is subject to professional legal privilege. This means that this report can only be released to third parties when you permit it. With that said, if the report expresses something that you do not want disclosed to other parties, then as long as its contents are not disclosed to other parties other than you and your attorney, you can choose not to disclose them even if the court subpoenas you.
How much time does it take to obtain this report?
Your circumstances are the ones that determine the time it will take for you to obtain this report. It might take more than a month for you to obtain this report.
Therefore, if you need medico legal services Perth, contact us today.
