How to Check Doctors for Lawsuits

Regardless of whether you're looking for a family physician or someone to perform a complicated or crucial surgery, trusting that you'll receive the best possible care is imperative when choosing a doctor. One way to do this is to make sure that your physician has not been successfully sued for medical malpractice, which means that he committed a wrong act that caused undue injury to a patient. Take the time to research your physician before putting your health in her hands.

Things You'll Need

• Computer
• Telephone
• Attorney
• Investigator

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Instructions

• 1

  Ask your doctor if she has been named in or involved in any lawsuits. If so, inquire about the nature of the suit and if the patient won the case. Doctors can be accused of malpractice without foundation, so it is important to fully understand the nature of each incident.

• 2

  Ask for references from former and existing patients. Other patients may have information or may be willing to tell you things the doctor may not.

• 3

  Check the medical board of your state to determine if your doctor has been sued for malpractice or any other other reason related to the practice of medicine. Most state medical boards have websites that will allow you to view doctor's history by typing in the doctor's name, location and/or license number.

• 4

  Pay for an Internet-based background check. Websites such as MDNationwide (mdnationwide.org) will run full searches that will reveal if your doctor has been involved in a lawsuit. MDNationwide's prices start at $14.95. Other sites, such as HealthGrades (healthgrades.com), offer similar services for comparable prices.

• 5

  Find out if your doctor has practiced in a state other than the one in which he currently does. A lawsuit may have been brought against the physician elsewhere, so check the medical board of that state as well.

• 6

  Contact local government and court sources, such as a county clerk or the clerk of the court, for records of lawsuits filed against your physician. Such records are public information and should reveal if your doctor has been successfully sued for malpractice.

• 7

  Hire an investigator or attorney to conduct an extensive background check to determine if the physician ever has been sued. This may be extreme, but if you have suffered an injury caused by a doctor's negligent actions, you may need to employ this method to find out more about his history.