Legal funding companies commonly offer lawsuit loans for medical malpractice suits. However, the underwriting for a medical malpractice case is usually more intricate than other negligence lawsuits.

Malpractice Basics

The law views medical malpractice as a healthcare professional failing to follow professional standards and/or regulations when providing care. For a patient to have a case of medical malpractice, their alleged damage (bodily harm, lost wages, pain and suffering, etc.) must be related to the negligent action of the healthcare professional.

Malpractice Cases Can Be Complicated

There are a few cut and dry cases of medical malpractice; for example, patient goes in to have appendix removed and surgeon removes the gallbladder instead -or- patient is to have right leg amputated and doctor amputates the left leg instead. These are clear cut examples of negligence and a settlement would be rather quick. However, most medical malpractice suits do not contain such clear evidence. If a deviation from standard care practice is proven, the negligent act must be proven to have caused the patients' damage. This can also be a difficult task; for example, a doctor was proven to have deviated from the standard of care when he misdiagnosed terminal cancer in a patient, but due to the terminal nature of the caner, damages would be difficult to prove since the patient would still be facing a terminal diagnosis regardless of how quickly an accurate diagnosis was provided.

Lawsuit Funding and Medical Malpractice

There are often extended periods, sometimes years, of litigation delays during a medical malpractice lawsuit. Combine litigation delays with the plaintiff being unable to work from a medical injury, and he's very likely to face great economic difficulty while waiting for the suit to be settled.

Lawsuit loans can help during these economic hardships. The plaintiff will agree to pay back or assign a portion of their settlement to the lawsuit funding company. In the meantime, the plaintiff may use the loaned funds to ease their monetary burdens, pay medical bills, etc.

However, lawsuit loan companies use complex economic and fact scenarios when they analyze the chance of case success vs. failure, and ultimately decide if they will fund a medical malpractice case. Medical malpractice suits are generally difficult to win and require a great deal of money and time. Statistics show that many jurisdictions only have a plaintiff win rate of 1 in 3 medical malpractice lawsuits. So, just keep in mind that these loan companies screen meticulously when deciding to fund a plaintiff.