Medical malpractice can result in a number of losses which include medical costs, lost wages and non-economic damages like pain and suffering. A licensed New York attorney can help you determine your rights to compensation.
First decide if your injuries were caused by an error in medical care. You can then start a lawsuit for malpractice.
Medical expenses
The most obvious expense in the context of malpractice is that of medical treatment needed to treat the results of the injuries. This type of damage has an amount established by law in each state, which is determined in the liability insurance policy of a medical professional. Some states also establish injured patient compensation funds to help offset the perceived cost of litigation, and also to help reduce the cost of liability for providers.
Victims can claim compensation in addition to medical costs when negligence is found to be a factor. These are referred to as special or economic damages. They include the cost of medical treatments (past or in the future) required to treat an injury caused by the malpractice and any income loss resulting from being incapable of working.
Damages for pain and suffering are also typical in medical malpractice cases. This type of damage is subjective and could vary significantly between different plaintiffs. It covers any physical pain, emotional stress and other physical or psychological effects that result from the malpractice legal. A plaintiff, for example may be able to claim compensation if the doctor made a mistake that caused her to fail to take part in a crucial cancer screening.
In some instances the punitive damages may be awarded. They are meant to penalize doctors for particularly unprofessional behavior, for example, leaving a sponge inside the patient after surgery.
Pain and suffering
In medical malpractice cases there is pain and suffering as an example of non-economic damages. They are a way to compensate for the emotional and physical trauma suffered by a victim due to the medical professional's negligence. The symptoms could be minor such as pain or anxiety or they can be major such as loss of enjoyment in life or depression, embarrassment, or fear.
Since it's difficult to place a dollar value on suffering and suffering, the jury instructions usually leave it up to jurors. They can rely on their own judgment, experience, and experience to determine what they consider fair and reasonable. This is why the amounts paid in malpractice cases vary widely.
Your medical malpractice attorney can help you prove your case with evidence. Images, Xrays, home movies, models, diagrams and drawings can help a jury determine the extent of your injuries and how they affect your daily routine.
If a doctor's negligence led to the death of a patient, the family members can seek damages through the wrongful death lawsuit or through survival statutes. The laws governing wrongful death typically allow the spouse and children to collect the same compensation as they would've received had the patient survived. The amount that a victim may receive is typically limited by the state's limits on pain and suffering. This is why it's important to have a knowledgeable medical malpractice legal attorney on your side to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.
Loss of wages
You are able to recover your lost wages if you miss work due to medical malpractice. This includes your base salary plus bonuses, commissions, as well as benefits for employees. It also includes any pay increases or malpractice lawsuit pay increases. Your lawyer will go through your pay stubs and previous pay statements to calculate your average earnings prior to your injury, and after that, subtract your missed work to arrive at the total loss of earnings. Your attorney can help you determine your future loss of income by using a current value calculation. This is an analysis of your finances that analyzes the effects of your injuries into the future on your ability to earn a living. It's usually performed by a professional hired by your attorney.
You can also recover non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, resulted from the malpractice. The jury will decide the appropriate amount of compensation, which can vary from case to case. Certain states, however, have a cap on these damages, and they've been declared illegal in a variety of cases.
Seven-figure settlements are typically associated with serious permanent injuries or wrongful deaths resulting from extreme healthcare negligence. Settlements with high value may be awarded for, among others, surgical errors that cause amputations and brain injuries to infants and mothers as well as anesthesia errors that can cause comas. In certain situations, punitive damages may be used to punish bad conduct.
Damages for future medical treatment
In medical malpractice legal cases there are two types of damages a plaintiff can pursue: non-economic and economic damages. The former are based on calculable financial losses, including future and past medical expenses. The latter is more difficult to quantify, which includes suffering and loss of enjoyment of living. In a lawsuit involving medical malpractice, the jury will need to hear expert testimony to determine the kind of losses.
Past medical expenses are easy to prove by submitting actual bills from the injured person's health healthcare providers. The plaintiff's attorney will provide medical evidence to demonstrate the kind of treatment that is likely to be needed in the future, and what they cost now. The amount of future medical treatment required can be affected by the victim's age at the time of the incident.
The ability to prove damages for future lost wages is possible by demonstrating how the injury affected the patient's future earning capacity and ability to work. This can be supported by expert witness testimony or by looking at similar cases in the preceding.
Pain and suffering is a umbrella term that covers the mental and physical discomfort and suffering that patients suffer as a result of medical malpractice. This type of damages is usually based on the testimony of the victim and other witnesses, as well as evidence such as videos, photographs and written reports.
