Many incarcerated individuals get crappy medical care and want to make a medical malpractice claim, however, there is one thing that you must understand about medical malpractice claims in the jail and/or prison system.
Medical malpractice claims are difficult outside of the prison or jail system because of a number of jury biases. For incarcerated individuals, bias that jurors have against you is real. And because of this bias, we need to show two things to be successful in these claims:
- Even though you are incarcerated you are a good person that made a mistake. A juror is going to treat a guy who was locked up because of a drug issue different than a sex offender or rapist. This is just the way it is. You have to understand this fact.
- The facts surrounding your medical care must be bad enough to get a jury angry. If the doctor just made a mistake, you’re not going to be able find a lawyer to help you. On the other hand, if the medical staff just ignored your pleas for assistance, you may have something.
The lesson is this. If you are going to search out a lawyer to help you with a prison or jail malpractice claim, be sure to prepare a timeline of events for his or her review. Make sure that you document dates, times and exactly what happened because the facts are important.
If you have any questions about a prison malpractice claim, you can give me a call 352-267-9168.