Not Following Doctor’s Orders Does Not Prohibit You From Suing Of Medical Malpractice

A common question is if a patient can still sue for medical malpractice if the patient did not follow all of the doctor’s orders.  This is particularly a common question after a surgical malpractice case.  It may sound like the answer is no, but you actually CAN sue a doctor for medical malpractice if you did not follow all of the doctor’s orders.

Sounds weird?  Doesn’t sound right?

Well think about it this way.  The doctor just made a medical error on your body.  Why should you continue to do what he or she says?  If they made one mistake, how do you know there were not other mistakes like the orders given?  Trust may become a huge issue—and rightfully so!

Thus the issue becomes whether the non-compliance with the doctor’s orders caused your injury, whether it contributed to the injury (like making it worse), or whether it had no impact at all on the medical malpractice.  Said differently, the question will be whether your not complying with the orders is what caused your injury or if the doctor caused your injury.

Now, even if you did not follow orders and even if it was found that your non-compliance contributed to your errors, you can STILL recover! You will, however, be assessed a degree of fault by the jury or judge as to what percentage of fault you have for causing your own injuries.  This could be minimal, like only 5% at fault in which your damages would be lowered by 5%.  Or this could be larger, such as 50%, which would cut your damages down by 50%!  Of course, a jury could still find that you caused your injuries completely by not following orders, which that is the doctor’s fault.

Either way, if you were injured and did not comply with the doctor’s orders, you still have rights which need to be protected.