Quite possibly, yes. When pursuing a medical malpractice case, gathering and presenting strong evidence is key to a successful outcome. While medical records, expert testimonies, and witness statements often take center stage, one often overlooked but highly valuable tool is a personal journal. A well-kept journal can provide critical insights into a patient’s experience, helping attorneys demonstrate the extent of harm, emotional distress, and recovery challenges. Let’s take a look at how a journal can help support your medical malpractice case.
Documenting Symptoms and Daily Impact
Medical malpractice often leads to worsening symptoms, chronic pain, or new health complications. A journal allows you to document your symptoms on a daily basis and how they impact your life. For example, a journal can speak to your:
- Pain levels: You can rate your pain on a scale of 1-10 daily,
- Physical limitations: You can note what tasks you can no longer perform, and
- Emotional well-being: You can record feelings of frustration, anxiety, or depression resulting from your injuries.
These consistent, day-to-day entries can provide tangible proof that your condition worsened after the alleged malpractice and demonstrate the ongoing effects on your quality of life.
Providing a Timeline of Events
A personal journal can also serve as a valuable timeline. By recording dates, symptoms, and interactions with medical professionals, you can establish a clear chronology of events. This helps:
- Identify when symptoms first appeared or worsened,
- Track appointments, treatments, and advice given by medical providers, and
- Pinpoint discrepancies between your experiences and the medical records.
For instance, if you recall that a doctor dismissed critical symptoms on a specific date, your journal can help validate your memory of events.
Capturing Emotional Distress
Medical malpractice doesn’t only cause physical harm—it can lead to significant emotional and mental suffering. A journal is a space where you can express:
- The anxiety of not knowing what went wrong,
- Frustration with ongoing treatments or recovery setbacks, and
- Fear about your future health or financial situation.
This emotional distress can support claims for non-economic damages (e.g., pain and suffering) during settlement negotiations or trial.
Strengthening Credibility
Consistency is crucial in any legal case. A detailed journal can strengthen your credibility by showing that your complaints and symptoms are not exaggerated but were recorded in real-time.
If discrepancies arise in medical records, a journal can serve as a contemporaneous account of what you experienced.
Supporting Expert Witness Testimonies
Medical experts often rely on patient history to form opinions about malpractice. Your journal can provide detailed information about your symptoms and treatment, and patterns that suggest negligence, such as repeated failures to diagnose or dismissals of concerns.
An expert can use these entries to support their findings and better explain how the malpractice caused or contributed to your condition.
Tips for Keeping a Journal for Your Case
If you’re considering starting a journal for your medical malpractice case, follow these tips:
- Be detailed: Include dates, times, symptoms, and any treatments or medications.
- Be honest: Stick to the facts and avoid exaggerating or omitting information.
- Include daily activities: Write about how your condition limits your ability to work, care for yourself, or enjoy life.
- Stay organized: Keep entries chronological and store the journal securely.
- Consult your attorney: Share your journal with your lawyer to ensure it aligns with your case strategy.
Contact Otorowski & Golden, PLLC
Please know that our firm is here to help if you were injured due to a medical provider’s malpractice. Otorowski & Golden, PLLC provides free consultations to all our potential clients. The attorneys at our law firm also have over 120 years of combined experience representing injured parties in medical malpractice cases. They never back down to insurers and fight for their clients’ interests every step of the way. Do yourself a favor and contact them now for the quality legal representation you deserve.