A medico legal report pertaining to a personal injury case is a written report submitted as proof to a court, as a medical expert witness, to support a claim made by an individual in a civil (not a criminal) court case, so as to obtain expert testimony as to the nature, extent and cause of his/her injury. Every injured person must submit such reports to get compensation. The medico legal report contains the following particulars about the injury: the name and address of the victim/party, the nature of the injury, medical and other details of the victim/party, the circumstances under which the accident occurred and the damage caused to the victim/party. In order to submit a claim for compensation, the injured person must submit a claim statement along with the medico legal report. If there is no claim statement, the case will be handled by the insurance company. In most of cases, the medico legal report comes into use after some time. If there is any doubt regarding the amount or kind of compensation to the victim/party, a special meeting between the lawyer and the victim/party's expert witness occurs. The lawyers/lawyer draft a unique case management plan, stating the details of the injury, its scope of compensation and other important details to be known to the jury. It is then submitted to the court for its consideration. It is common for the injured person or the relatives of the person to write to the medico legal report's author and request corrections. In some cases, the person who had filed the case with the court asks for minor corrections to be made to it. However, in most of the cases, the person who had filed the case with the court demands major changes in the medico legal reports. For example, in family law, a case may have been filed against one of the child's parents, whereby the father had been told that he would not be able to take care of his children and his wife. However, in the medico legal reports, it had been clearly mentioned that the father was fit to take care of the children. WHAT IS THE MAJOR ROLE OF MEDICO LEGAL REPORTS? The other major role of the doctor involved in the preparation of the medico-legal report is to ensure that the patient has been accurately represented in the report. This is so, because the doctor cannot be expected to represent the client in all the right ways unless he/she is also a medical expert. So, in case the client demands that the doctor should represent him in court, the doctor will comply with the client's wishes. Only in such situations, where the doctor is not required to give his own version of events, does the medico-legal reporting process become an essential part of the litigation. There are also situations where the attorney representing the client has to get involved in the preparation of the medico-legal reports. For instance, if he/she is handling the personal injury claims on behalf of a client who had been involved in an accident and suffered injuries at the hands of another person, the court needs to be informed about all relevant facts relating to the accident. In such a situation, the attorney has to prepare the reports in an accurate and thorough manner. He is also required to get in touch with the parole board and make sure that all relevant information about the accident has been included in the final report. CONCLUSION The role played by the medico-legal specialist in accident and injury cases is crucial. Hence, the services of this professional witness must be availed at critical times when one is unable to retain or rely upon his/her own memory. This is especially important for filing personal injury claims against the liable party.
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4/10/2023 11:14:04 pm
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