Understanding Your Rights to Medical Malpractice Compensation in New York

Medical malpractice can lead to a number of losses including costly medical care, lost wages and non-economic damages such as pain and suffering. A knowledgeable New York attorney can help you determine your rights to a fair settlement.

First decide if your injuries resulted from a medical mistake. Then you can file a malpractice lawsuit.

Medical expenses

The expense of medical treatment to treat injuries is the most obvious. This type of damage has the limitation established by law in each state, which is outlined in the liability insurance policy of a health provider. Some states also establish injured patients compensation funds to reduce the cost of litigation and to help drive down liability premiums for health care providers.

Victims can claim compensation in addition to medical costs in the event that negligence is found to be a cause. These are called special or economic damages. They include the cost of medical treatment (past or in the future) necessary to treat the injury caused by the malpractice as well as any loss of income due to being incapable of working.

In medical malpractice cases, pain and suffering damages are also typical. This type of damage may differ greatly between claimants and is a subjective one. It includes any physical pain, emotional distress as well as other physical effects due to the malpractice. A plaintiff, for instance could be compensated if a doctor made a mistake that led her to not attend a crucial cancer screening.

In certain cases the punitive damages may be given. They are intended to penalize an individual doctor for the most egregious behaviour, such as leaving a dirty sponge inside the patient's body after surgery.

Suffering and pain

In medical malpractice cases, pain and suffering is a form of non-economic damages. The damages are based on the physical and psychological trauma victims suffered as a result of a medical professional's negligence. The symptoms can be mild, like discomfort or anxiety or even more severe issues, like the loss of enjoyment as well as depression, embarrassment anxiety, and sleep disorders.

It's difficult to put an exact dollar amount on pain and suffering, so jury instructions typically leave it to jurors to use their personal judgment knowledge, background, and experience in determining what is reasonable and fair. The amount of compensation awarded in malpractice law firms lawsuits can vary.

Your medical malpractice attorney can assist you in proving the severity of your suffering by using evidence that can be used to prove your case. Photographs, X-rays and X-rays as well as models, home movies, diagrams and drawings can help a jury determine the severity of your injuries as well as how they affected your daily routine.

If a doctor's error resulted in the death of a patient's heirs, they can seek damages through survival statutes or wrongful deaths lawsuits. The laws governing wrongful death typically allow the spouse and children to claim the same compensation they would have received if the patient had lived. In general, however, the amount the victim is allowed to receive is determined by the state's damage limits for pain and suffering. This is why it's important to have a seasoned medical malpractice lawyer on your side to fight for the amount of compensation you're entitled to.

Loss of wages

If you miss work due to medical error You are entitled to recover the lost wages. This includes your base pay, bonuses, commissions as well as benefits for employees, pay raises, and retirement fund contributions. Your attorney will look over your pay stubs from the past to determine your average earnings before the injury, and then subtract out your absence from work to calculate the total loss of wages. Your lawyer can also help you determine the future loss of earnings using a present value calculation. This is an analysis of finances that looks at the impact of your injuries in the future on your ability to earn money. It is usually done by a professional who is hired by your attorney.

There is also the possibility of recovering non-economic damages like pain and suffering resulted from the malpractice. The jury will determine the amount of compensation that is appropriate which may differ from case to case. Certain states limit these damages. However they have been ruled unconstitutional by several courts.

Seven-figure settlements usually involve serious permanent injuries or wrongful deaths resulting from extreme healthcare negligence. Settlements with high values can be awarded for, among other things, surgical mistakes that cause amputations or brain damage to infants or mothers and also anesthesia mistakes that cause comas. In certain instances punitive damages could be available to punish bad behavior.

Future medical treatment and damages

In a medical malpractice lawsuit, there are two types of damages that a plaintiff may pursue: non-economic and economic damages. The former is based on calculable losses such as the past or future medical costs. The latter are more difficult to quantify and encompass the suffering and pain as well as loss of enjoyment of life. In a medical malpractice lawsuit the jury will have to hear testimony from experts to determine these kinds of losses.

Past medical expenses are easy to prove by providing actual bills from the injured person's health care providers. The lawyer representing the plaintiff will provide medical evidence to demonstrate the types of treatments that are likely to be required in the near future, and what they cost today. The amount of future medical treatment needed can be dependent on the age of the victim at the time of malpractice.

The damages for lost wages in the future can be established by showing the impact of the injury on the patient's capacity to work and earn in the future. This can be supported by expert testimony or by studying similar cases in the past.

Pain and suffering is a broad class of damages that encompasses the physical and emotional discomfort and suffering patients suffer due to medical malpractice. The type of damages are typically based on the testimony of the victim and other witnesses, as well as evidence such as videotapes, photographs and written reports.