What to do if I was injured during my arrest and was later refused medical treatment by a nurse while incarcerated?
Get Legal Help Today
Compare Quotes From Top Companies and Save
Secured with SHA-256 Encryption
What to do if I was injured during my arrest and was later refused medical treatment by a nurse while incarcerated?
This, all because I refused to give my name. Later after I was released from jail. I went to a nearby hospital and the doctor told me that I had pulled muscles in my shoulder from the police officer during my arrest. Can I sue the jail and the police station?
Asked on March 19, 2014 under Personal Injury, Indiana
Answers:
S.L,. Member, California Bar / FreeAdvice Contributing Attorney
Answered 10 years ago | Contributor
Prior to filing a lawsuit for negligence against the police and state, it may be possible to settle the case with their insurance carrier(s). Most likely, they are self-insured through the state of IN. You would need to contact their claims department(s) to obtain the insurance information and procedures for filing a personal injury claim.
You will need to obtain your medical bills and medical reports to file your personal injury claim. If after getting out of jail, you had a wage loss due to your injury, documentation of that wage loss should be included in your personal injury claim.
Compensation for the medical bills is straight reimbursement. The medical reports will document the nature and extent of your injury and will be used to determine compensation for pain and suffering, which is an amount in addition to the medical bills. Compensation for wage loss is straight reimbursement. If the case is settled with the insurance carrier(s) for the police and jail, NO lawsuit is filed. If you are dissatisfied with settlement offers from the insurance carriers, reject the settlement offers and file your lawsuit for negligence against the police and jail. It is very important that you are familiar with the claims department procedures because there may be a filing deadline for filing your claim and having it rejected before you can file your lawsuit. If you miss the filing deadline for filing the claim, you may not be able to subsequently file the lawsuit.
If the case is NOT settled with the insurance carriers for the police and jail, name both parties as defendants in your lawsuit. You may also need to name the state and city as defendants in yoiur lawsuit. If the case is settled with some but not all parties, only name the remaining parties with whom the case did not settle as defendants in your lawsuit for negligence. If the case is NOT settled, your lawsuit for negligence must be filed prior to the expiration of the applicable statute of limitations or you will lose your rights forever in the matter.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: The Answer(s) provided above are for general information only. The attorney providing the answer was not serving as the attorney for the person submitting the question or in any attorney-client relationship with such person. Laws may vary from state to state, and sometimes change. Tiny variations in the facts, or a fact not set forth in a question, often can change a legal outcome or an attorney's conclusion. Although AttorneyPages.com has verified the attorney was admitted to practice law in at least one jurisdiction, he or she may not be authorized to practice law in the jurisdiction referred to in the question, nor is he or she necessarily experienced in the area of the law involved. Unlike the information in the Answer(s) above, upon which you should NOT rely, for personal advice you can rely upon we suggest you retain an attorney to represent you.