Can I Sue a Doctor for Emotional Distress?
You can easily sue a doctor if you have recently experienced emotional distress or going through it due to medical malpractice. All you would need in such a situation is the support of medical malpractice attorneys. Remember, these lawsuits can get tricky and only an experienced lawyer can lead you to justice.
So, you need to hire the best lawyer in your area who deals with such cases. Here, you can go through the process by which you can sue a physician for being the reason for your mental disturbance.
Proving Emotional Distress
Proving emotional distress in court can be a tough job. However, following the proper process, you can convince the judge easily. Make sure you do it concerning a medical ground; otherwise, it will not have any base. The things you need to prove are as follows:
You had visited a doctor with an expectation to get relieved from a disease. The doctor showed negligence in treating you or misbehaved with you intentionally. You have to go through some actual damages physically due to your mental disturbance.
1. Note From the Physiatrist
Apart from the legal support by medical malpractice attorneys, you would need a note from the psychiatrist finding the fact that you are emotionally distressed. You can also collect other notes from your friends and family members or just make them attest to the psychiatrist’s note.
2. Other Evidence
You can also consider the following as evidence to prove that you are emotionally drained after the ill-treatment provided to you by a physician.
- Journal entries: Journal entries are written documents that can work as solid evidence in court. You can also present a police diary as it is also a type of journal entry.
- Medical bills: Medical bills also act as evidence to prove that you are emotionally drained. This shows that a doctor habit-changing medicines frequently, which is a burden to your wallet. However, the doctor can be defensive in this case as he justifies the medical needs of the medication for your well-being.
- Records of lost wages: You can lose wages as you visit a doctor frequently. This can be due to the negligence of the doctor. Unfortunately, many doctors consider this as a business strategy to make a patient visit them repeatedly just to get the remuneration time and again.
About Your Right
If you have read this article up to here, it is clear to you that you can sue a doctor in court for your emotional distress. However, you should remember that the doctor would also have his defense mechanism. Furthermore, the judge would always try to give a fair verdict in such a case. So, you must have one thing in your mind that you can only enjoy your right if you are correct about everything you present in court.
Final Words
Suing a doctor for emotional distress is considered a step against medical malpractice. However, the experienced medical malpractice attorneys will fight the case correctly and lead you to a favorable verdict.