Closing the Justice Gap: Why Medical Accountability Must Be Part of the Health Equity Conversation
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As you may have noticed, lately there’s been a lot of noise being made about health equity.
Which is wonderful. Progress is happening. But there’s one conversation that keeps getting left out of the equity dialogue…
Doctor accountability.
The reason? When low-income patients get subpar treatment — and nothing happens — it doesn’t just harm that patient. It perpetuates inequality. If we want to close the justice gap, medical accountability has to be placed front and center in the health equity conversation.
Which requires knowing when — and how — to sue a doctor.
How To Sue Your Doctor For Malpractice (& Why You Should Know Your Rights)
Before walking into that doctor’s office, patients should know their rights.
If you’ve already been injured by negligent care, the first step is to consider a medical malpractice lawyer familiar with how systemic bias impacts your case.
What you’re going to learn:
- What Is the Justice Gap?
- When Does Negligent Care Become Malpractice?
- Why Are Marginalized Patients Disproportionately Harmed?
- Common Reasons To Sue Your Doctor
- What To Do If You’ve Been Injured By Medical Negligence
What Is the Healthcare Justice Gap?
The healthcare justice gap is easy to understand.
It’s the difference between being harmed by medical negligence and seeing the person who harmed you held accountable. For white patients with insurance in generally well-off communities, there is virtually no gap. But for communities of color and patients without resources — that gap is vast.
Why?
Because health disparities don’t begin and end with access. They continue through the care patients receive.
Minority groups report being treated unfairly by their healthcare providers at dramatically higher rates than white patients. 1 in 5 Black patients are discriminated against due to their race, according to one KFF survey — compared to only 1 in 20 white patients.
That isn’t acceptable.
If negligent or dismissive care causes further negative health outcomes for these patients, they deserve to pursue legal action just as readily as anyone else. But the data shows that’s not the case. And that is the justice gap.
Negligent Care Vs Malpractice: Know the Difference
Before jumping into how to sue a doctor, here’s one thing to get straight.
Not every negative healthcare outcome is the result of malpractice.
But a lot of them are.
Medical malpractice is defined as any instance where a healthcare provider fell below a standard of care — and that failure caused direct harm to the patient. Some of the most common reasons to sue your doctor include:
- Misdiagnosis/Delayed Diagnosis
- Surgical Errors
- Medication Errors
- Failure to Order Tests
- Birth Injuries
Delayed or missed diagnoses are the leading cause of medical malpractice claims — and they’re also responsible for many patients’ deaths. When a doctor ignores symptoms, neglects to order testing, or completely misinterprets a condition, it can cause irreversible harm.
But like so many other areas of the healthcare system, this problem disproportionately affects communities of color and low-income families.
Injustice For Black Patients (And How To Fight Back)
Black patients are more likely to experience malpractice for a variety of reasons.
Implicit Bias: Research shows physicians are less likely to communicate effectively with Black patients, giving them less information and involving them in decision-making at lower rates.
Symptom dismissal: According to one study, Black patients were less likely to be admitted into the hospital after an emergency room visit. They also experienced longer wait times and lower triage acuity levels despite presenting with the same symptoms as white patients.
Communication Barriers: Non-English-speaking patients were less likely to understand their treatment options and medical instructions. Over 70% of Latino healthcare workers reported physicians do not provide the same quality care to non-English-speaking patients.
Too often, Black families are uninformed about their right to take legal action against their healthcare providers. That means medical errors that cause lasting harm go completely unchecked. The injustice doesn’t end with negligence.
It continues through a lack of accountability.
Even when patients are aware of their rights, many face significant barriers when filing a lawsuit — from the high costs of legal representation to biased judges and jury members. For families who are willing to take on that fight, the justice system may pose its own challenges.
Patients Sue for Many Reasons (& You Can Too)
So you might be thinking…
“Sure, but how often do things like this actually happen?”
More often than you think.
Studies estimate that up to 15% of all medical interactions contain some form of error. If you’ve ever received subpar treatment from your doctor, you may be eligible to sue based on one of these 5 issues:
Diagnostic Errors:
- Your condition was missed entirely
- Testing was delayed or ignored
- You received the wrong treatment because of a misdiagnosis
Treatment Mistakes:
- You experienced complications from a preventable surgery mistake
- You were given the wrong dosage or combination of medication
- Your provider failed to follow up after procedures
Informed Consent:
- You weren’t told of the risks before a procedure was performed
- You weren’t informed of alternative treatments
- You were coerced into giving consent without explanation
Medical malpractice can happen to anyone. Knowing how to sue your doctor starts with understanding what constitutes malpractice. The next step? Seeking justice.
What To Do If You Believe You’ve Been Wronged
Think you might have a case? Begin documenting your journey to justice by following these 5 steps:
- Record everything. Keep a file of appointments, treatments, prescriptions, and any conversations you have with your medical providers.
- Get your medical records. You have a legal right to access your medical records. Request copies as soon as possible.
- Keep track of losses. How has this affected your ability to work? Your physical health? Your daily life? Don’t forget to note these down.
- Get a second opinion. Another doctor may be able to confirm whether your care was subpar.
- Consult your legal options. Reach out to an experienced attorney to see if you have a case.
Remember.
Just like there are time limits on how long you can receive care for a medical condition, there are limits for filing a malpractice suit as well. Don’t wait too long or you could lose your right to sue.
Medical Accountability: The Bottom Line
Access to care matters.
But what happens if you receive careless treatment from your doctor? Or your doctor fails to diagnose or recognize your condition in time?
Without proper medical accountability, healthcare disparities will never be solved.
If you or a loved one were victims of medical negligence, you have every right to seek justice — and hold your provider accountable for their actions.
Remember:
- Health disparities often lead to medical errors (which go disproportionately unpunished).
- Patients of color and low-income families are the least likely to know their rights.
- Misdiagnosis is the most common reason to sue your doctor.
- Everyone has the right to take legal action against negligent care.
- Don’t wait too long or you could lose your right to file a claim.
Knowing how to sue your doctor empowers patients to take medical accountability into their own hands. Only by acknowledging that accountability exists — for both patients and their providers — can we hope to close the justice gap for good.