If you have been harmed by pharmacy negligence, you might be wondering how you can go about seeking the compensation that you deserve for your injuries. You probably are not sure what the process of seeking compensation looks like and you might be feeling bewildered trying to decide where to begin. If you have long-term health concerns that you are attending to, or you have been unable to work, you might not even be sure if you can handle the details of your pharmacy negligence case.
Pharmacy negligence is a result of a lack of care being exhibited by the pharmacist filling your prescription. This is the first and most essential duty of pharmacists and their attention to detail and commitment to patient care must come before all other considerations when they are at work. This is not the only consideration that they must remember, however, and there are many kinds of mistakes that can lead to patient harm.
If you are not sure how to go about getting help after your pharmacy negligence injury, read on to learn more about the steps of a pharmacy negligence case.
There are some important considerations that need to be looked into or investigated before you can take your case to court. Your pharmacy negligence lawyer will make sure that all of the necessary investigation and diligence is undertaken before you seek compensation for your injuries.
1. Hiring Your Attorney
The first and most important part of your pharmacy negligence case is to engage a lawyer. You will need to work with a skilled personal injury lawyer who is versed in pharmacy negligence to help you with your case. Your attorney will look at the details of your case and make sure that there is an investigation done into the causes of your injury.
There are many people who might have something to do with your injury and your lawyer will make sure that the right parties are held accountable for your injuries. Your lawyer will also determine how much of an award to ask for as compensation for your injuries. Certain states have regulations related to the dollar amount that you can ask for personal injury cases and your lawyer will know the rules related to asking for higher dollar amount awards.
Your lawyer will also look into your medical bills and make sure that your losses related to an inability to work or lifelong injury will be covered by your compensation demand.
2. A Complaint is Filed and Served
After your personal injury lawyer has established the details of your case and figured out the award that they are intending to seek, they will file a formal complaint about your case against the defendant. This is the first step in the process of seeking a trial or a settlement and the case will be presented in the broadest of terms at this stage.
The complaint will explain what was done to you and explain how you were harmed. After the complaint is filed, you will have a month to locate and serve the defendant. This is the physical delivery of the complaint to the pharmacy or pharmacist who you feel harmed you. The complaint will also state when the defendant will need to appear in court.
3. The Defendant Hires a Lawyer
At this stage, the defendant has a month to hire an attorney to defend their case. Insurance may also be involved for a hospital or larger entity. All of these parties will need to have their own lawyers present when the case goes to trial.
Defense attorneys can be engaged for any party involved in the process of defense who cannot afford an attorney. While people are legally allowed to defend themselves in court, this is rarely selected as an option.
4. Pre-Trial and Discovery
This is the stage where both sides ask each other for evidence and declare which witnesses they are going to call to support their evidence in their side of the case. Both sides will have to appear in court to inform a judge about how the case proceedings are going to agree or disagree with mediation and arbitration in place of a trial.
As the process of discovery carries on, both sides schedule depositions with expert witnesses as well as those who can serve as character witnesses for either side of the case. This process can take quite a long time, so you should not plan on your case being decided for at least six months.
When discovery has been concluded, the judge will set a final court date. This is the stage where a settlement will be sought or a trial will be conducted. As the court date approaches, each side will finalize the process of building their case to make sure that they are ready to defend their position in court.
5. Trial Phase
If arbitration or settlement is not agreed upon or you choose not to use this method of coming to a determination or arrangement, your trial date will be scheduled. The trial will determine who is at fault for your injuries and how much of the losses that you have requested will be awarded to you if the outcome is favorable to you.
If the results of the trial are not to your liking or if the defendant does not agree with the determination, there is the chance for an appeals process. Appeals can take years to be scheduled and heard. There are rules and limitations for appeals processes and you and your lawyer will have to discuss the process in advance before you decide to appeal.
Most cases of this type are settled out of court. The cost of taking this kind of case to trial is often prohibitive if the award is not large enough, and in many cases, both sides of the case would rather just be done with the court proceedings and get back to their normal daily lives.
Settlements are the most common outcomes for these kinds of personal injury cases. Settlements are the result of an agreement between both parties that ends the case. This might be disciplinary action that is taken against the pharmacist and a monetary award to the person who was harmed by pharmacy negligence.
Just because your case does not go to a trial does not mean that you will get the compensation that you deserve for your pain and suffering or your injuries. Your pharmacy negligence lawyer will work hard on your behalf to make sure that you get the compensation that you need to pay your medical bills associated with your injury and to help you cover your time off of work.
In cases where the pharmacy negligence in question prevents you from returning to work or has caused you long-term harm, you may have reason to decline to accept a settlement. This is going to increase the amount of time that your case takes, but if you have lots of outstanding medical bills and many other limitations related to your injuries, a simple settlement may not cover your losses.
Your pharmacy negligence lawyer can help you to determine the right course of action to best care for your needs after a pharmacy negligence injury. They are experts at this kind of case and they know how likely you are to win if your case goes to trial.
The first consideration that affects the amount of time that it takes to settle a personal injury case is how much money that you are seeking as compensation. The higher the award, the longer it will take to see your case through to a successful settlement.
There is rarely an instance where it is not better to make sure that you allow your case to take the time that is needed for a full discovery process to be completed. It can take months to see a case like this through and you will be giving up dollars in your settlement if you end the process early just to get your payout.
There are three items that could up your pharmacy negligence case:
Problems with legal or factual issues
This can be anything from issues determining liability to details related to the medication involved, to collecting testimony and statements from other people who have been called in as expert witnesses or character witnesses.
These delays can happen on either side of the case and can add months to the process of seeking a settlement. It is always best to wait for these issues to be seen through to their conclusion if you want to argue that your set compensation demand is accurate and should be paid out to you.
A significant award is being asked for
When you ask for a large award, the other side is motivated to prove that you were not injured in the way that you state that you were. They are also required to do more due diligence to support their side of the story. You will find that your side of the case will require more hard work as well to support your claims.
This can be a tough part of defending a large award because your lawyer will need to collect a lot of evidence and testimony to back your claims about long-term injury and other limitations that justify your large monetary demand.
You have not reached medical improvement
If part of the basis for your case is whether or not you will be able to return to work or whether or not you have long-term limitations related to your injury, you may have to wait to have your settlement decided upon until more information comes to light. If you have not finished your treatment for your injuries or you are uncertain about your ability to return to work, the settlement process will be held until this important information is made clear.
This is called settling for short money. It refers to accepting less than your stated desired compensation in exchange for closing the case. In many cases, you will only receive 30-40% of your desired compensation if you do not see your settlement through and you cannot prove your injuries are related to pharmacy negligence.
If you decide to settle for short money, you will need to be sure that you are prepared to pay medical bills without assistance from your settlement as well as managing your monthly bills without any settlement money to help you until you can get a new job or return to work.
Many personal injury lawyers will advise against this decision as you will be giving away so much money that it is not a great decision for your needs. Pharmacy negligence can cause significant harm and you will make your life much more difficult during your recovery if you do not wait to see your settlement through until its natural conclusion.
You should never attempt to navigate the legal process related to your pharmacy negligence case without the help of a skilled pharmacy negligence lawyer. Pharmacy negligence is a serious complaint and the process of discovery can be lengthy. This process requires attention to detail, knowledge of legal practices related to pharmacy settlements, and many other skills.
If you need to find the right personal injury lawyer for your injuries related to pharmacy negligence, you should look no farther than Kennedy Law Firm. Our talented team of lawyers will help you get back on your feet after your pharmacy negligence injury. We take pride in caring for our client’s personal injury needs related to pharmacy negligence.
Contact us today and get started with the process of seeking compensation for your pharmacy negligence injuries.
Pharmacy errors can cause death or significant health concerns. If you think that you have been harmed due to a
Pharmacy negligence results in 1.5 million injuries to people in the US each year. These errors happen in the hospital
Pharmacists are required by law and by definition of their duties to provide specific care to their customers and patients
