When a doctor, surgeon, nurse, or any such healthcare provider ends up injuring a patient due to negligence, it will be termed under medical malpractice. If you are a victim of the same, you might be wondering, “What type of medical malpractice compensation will I be eligible to receiving in my case?”
The details of your particular case will determine the answer to your question.
The effects of the medical malpractice that you’ve faced may affect your life in various ways and the ways in which it will affect your life will determine the type of compensation you will receive. The injury from the medical malpractice may make you ill or hospitalized longer than you previously needed, it may result in an injury that prevents you from doing your usual work, it may also affect your ability to earn.
You will require a medical malpractice lawyer to help you gain compensation for the losses you’ve suffered.
The plaintiff will be eligible for two types of compensation in a medical malpractice claim, those are – economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages will be in compensation for the financial damages and losses that the injured patients might be facing due to the healthcare provider’s negligence. The non-economical compensation will be to compensate the patient for losses that do not have any financial value such as stress, mental anguish, sorrow, loss of happiness, etc.
Causes Of Medical Malpractice
The most common causes of medical malpractice that most medical malpractice lawyers see include:
Wrong Diagnosis
When a medical provider misreads a diagnostic exam, misplaces and gives wrong information, or should have ordered diagnostic tests and didn’t do so, they can be held liable.
Medication errors
Medication errors occur when doctors prescribe the wrong medication or write so illegibly that it causes a pharmacy to fill a prescription incorrectly.
Surgical errors
Surgical Errors are when a doctor conducts a wrong procedure, administers the wrong amount of anesthesia or forgets a surgical instrument inside the patient’s body.
Informed consent errors
This occurs when a medical provider fails to inform the patient of all the risks associated with the medical treatment that will be conducted and fails to take consent from the patient regarding the treatment.
Birth injuries
Cerebral palsy, fetal distress, cesarean section error, lack of oxygen and birth trauma are all birth injuries that may warrant a medical malpractice claim.
Types Of Medical Malpractice Compensation Provided When A Medical Malpractice Occurs
If you have suffered any injury or losses due to the actions of a healthcare provider, you may be able to collect the following types of medical malpractice compensation, through a medical malpractice lawsuit. The types of compensation will be further distinguished from economic and non-economic compensation.
Compensation for Medical expenses
You can get medical malpractice compensation and or get fully reimbursed for your treatment, surgeries, and physical therapy sessions that will be caused by your injury which is the result of medical malpractice.
Compensation for Loss of Income
If your stay in the hospital gets extended due to the injury and you are missing work due to it, it will also be a part of medical malpractice compensation and you will receive the amount that you might have earned if you hadn’t missed work.
Compensation for Loss of Earning Capacity
Damages from the loss of earning capacity will also be provided to the plaintiff as compensation if the malpractice has caused the plaintiff to be in a state where he/she can no longer earn.
Compensation for Disability
If the injury caused by the malpractice has left the plaintiff disabled or in a state that the plaintiff can no longer participate in the activities that he/she was able to take part in prior to the incident, he/she will be eligible in receiving medical malpractice compensation.
Compensation for Disfigurement
If the injury from the malpractice has left the plaintiff disfigured, deformed with missing body parts, missing hair, has caused scars or any other visual change, he/she can receive compensation for disfigurement.
Non-economic medical malpractice damages may also be provided in successful cases, though they are typically harder to quantify. Common non-economic medical malpractice compensation includes:
Compensation for Pain and Suffering
You are eligible for medical malpractice compensation for any physical pain and discomfort you might have endured after a medical provider caused you harm. The amount of compensation will depend on your specific injury and the duration of your recovery.
Compensation for Mental Anguish
Anxiety, depression, trauma and distress are all types of suffering that come under mental anguish and may warrant medical malpractice compensation.
Compensation for Loss of Consortium
This includes compensation for loss of consortium accounts or for the loss of any physical intimacy or companionship caused by your injury with a spouse or partner.
