Of course you can sue your health practitioner, in the States it is almost di rigour to do so. In other nations, like England and Australia, it is fast catching on as well. Doctors are not inviolable, neither are they perfect, nor omnipotent or omniscient. I have laboured that point somewhat because we have been brought up to think so. The majority of us whenever we someone in a white coast we go down on one knee, metaphorically speaking. A hundred years of MD and GP PR has seen us all OTT with unreserved gratitude for good doctors and the role they play in our societies.
Can You Sue Your Health Practitioner?
That is not to say that there are not a good proportion of conscientious and well-meaning medical doctors out there. There are, as in everything, some not so fine examples of the profession in existence as well. This goes for all your healthcare practitioners, be they surgeons, chiropractors, psychiatrists, and the myriad of different types in-between. People make mistakes, and despite protestations by some grateful parents of sick children who have been cured, and some clients themselves, they are just people. Albeit highly trained healthcare professionals as well.
I say it again, ‘people make mistakes’, and in this highly litigious time we live in, we demand that people pay for those mistakes. It is an age which trumpets a high standard of accountability, or put another way, we like to blame someone whatever the situation. If chiropractic treatment for back pain ends up crippling you or making it much, much, worse, then you can sue that practitioner, and as a member of his or her official association that chiropractor will be insured to cover your legal suit and damages if it is successful.
Injury compensation cases against doctors are similarly covered by their membership to their association in the instance of alleged medical malpractice. Which is why these memberships are compulsory and cost their members a substantial annual fee. The system protects the healthcare practitioners, and you, through this indemnity insurance. Which is another reason why it is more dangerous to seek healthcare from unlicensed and un-indemnified practitioners. Lawyers are more than happy to take on injury compensation cases when they see valid grounds to prosecute them on your behalf. Often, they offer a no win no fee basis, but remember in this situation if they do win they take something like a third of your fee, or whatever has been originally negotiated prior to taking your case.
