Not Wanting to Sue Your Personal Doctor

Answer:

If you live in a small town and you have a relationship with your doctor in your small town, but you feel that your doctor has made an error that has caused you harm, what can you do about that situation? That is a challenging situation. We have found that when the case involves the relationship between a doctor and a patient in a small town, those cases can be very, very difficult cases. I’d say the reasons can vary, but I’d say the most obvious reason is that the jury that will be impaneled to consider the case will likewise come from that smaller community or the county where that small community is located, and many of the residents of those smaller communities and those smaller counties will know the doctor, respect the doctor, and perhaps even have a doctor/patient relationship with the doctor. That presents a very challenging dynamic that has to be evaluated carefully.

There are some solutions that can be identified to overcome that challenge. For example, it could be that the doctor is an employee of the hospital, so rather than name the individual doctor, you can name the hospital entity for the mistake made by the doctor who is an employee of the hospital. That’s one possible way to address the small town issue. That may not be an adequate way to address the issue, it’s just a possible solution to consider. There are certain situations where you can file the case with a court outside the community where the doctor resides. It could be that the small community you live in is just a small community in a much larger county, and the case that you file will be in that much larger county, and it’s not likely that residents from your small community would be chosen to participate on the jury that your case involves.

Again, these are complicated questions that you need a trained professional to help you evaluate, but the question is a good one, and it’s an important one. It’s a question that a good lawyer would recognize and would discuss with you and help you understand whether that dynamic is so problematic that it prevents you from being able to likely be successful with your claim. Again, these medical malpractice cases, whether they’re in small communities or small counties or large communities and a large county, they’re difficult cases. They’re complicated cases that involve complex issues, and you need a qualified professional to help you evaluate and understand the best course of action to take.

At Hepworth Holzer, we have experienced lawyer who have handled medical malpractice cases throughout the state of Idaho, in smaller communities as well as in the larger areas, and we’d be happy to evaluate your specific situation to help you understand whether it makes sense to pursue your case or not.