Folks from all over the state call our office with one thing in common: something bad has happened to them or to a loved one as a result of medical care. The vast majority of these people I cannot help. Unfortunately, bad things happen in life, and in medical care, and lots of times there is no recourse against a particular person or entity.

Medicine in 2016 is not perfect. Surgeries aren’t always successful. A doctor’s judgment is not always accurate. Infections happen.

Sometimes I think the person calling may have a case. In these situations, sometimes it’s evident why they want to bring a legal action. They can’t work and have stacks of medical bills piling up. They are angry about losing a loved one. They want to make sure “this” doesn’t happen again.

In a different world, there may be different ways to address each of the above. But in our world, there is only one: suing for money damages.

Suing for money.

In our society, suing for money is often looked at negatively. “I’ve never sued anyone for anything before,” many folks are quick to tell me. “Suing isn’t going to bring anyone back,” I’ve heard in focus groups about death cases. Suing is what’s wrong with America. We are “sue happy.” All of our insurance rates are going to go up.

These thoughts swirl through our collective conscious. Leaving aside where they come from, they are there. And people who call often do so with conscious or unconscious guilt about even calling me. I feel that it’s my job to address that guilt, and if possible discard it.

Because while the only recourse my clients have is money, money does a couple of really positive things.

First, it can help, especially in cases where people have been hurt and can’t work, and need to provide for their families. Or if they have bills to pay from medical care. Or money for future medical care. And even if there are no bills to pay, money can help make life easier for someone who, for example, lost a husband or wife. Taking one of life’s stressors away (personal finances), won’t bring the loved one back, but it can make things a little easier.

Second, it can hold negligent actors accountable. The vast majority of defendant doctors and health care workers are not “bad” people. But they did make a mistake that caused real harm. If there were no lawsuits to hold people and institutions accountable, just think how unsafe our medical system would be today!

When folks say “I just want to make sure that this doesn’t happen to anyone else,” money can do that! When you force a defendant (read: insurer) to pay lots of money to resolve a claim, they are incentivized to change behavior so that they won’t have to pay lots of money again. If a child breaks a window playing baseball in the front yard, and is responsible for paying with it out of her own money, she’ll think twice about playing baseball close to windows in the future, and less windows will be broken.

Medical malpractice laws, the medicine, and unfortunately lawyers, can make this whole system really complicated, but at its core it is not. It is based on the same principles my mother and father taught me, and kids have learned from their parents for generations. Fix the window, make it right. And, hopefully, learn new behaviors so it doesn’t happen again.