Understanding Your Rights to Medical Malpractice Compensation in New York

Medical malpractice can lead to many losses, such as medical expenses that are costly as well as lost wages and other non-economic damages like suffering and pain. A licensed New York attorney can help you learn about your rights to compensation.

The first step is to determine whether you suffered injuries as a result of a medical mistake. You can then make a claim for malpractice.

Medical expenses

The expense of medical treatment to treat injuries is the most obvious. This type of damage has a cap set by law of the state which is outlined in the liability insurance policy of a medical professional. Some states have also set up injured patient compensation funds to offset the perceived costs of litigation, and also help providers reduce their liability insurance rates.

Victims are entitled to compensation in addition to medical expenses if the negligence is deemed to be a cause. These are referred to as special or economic damages. They include the costs of any medical procedures (past and future) that are required to treat the injury that resulted from the malpractice, as the loss of income due to being unable to work because of the injury.

Damages for pain and suffering are also typical in medical malpractice cases. This category of damages is a bit different for each claimant and is a subjective one. This includes emotional distress, physical pain as well as other non-physical consequences of the mistake. For example the plaintiff could be compensated for a mistake made by a doctor that caused her to miss an important cancer screening appointment.

In addition, punitive damages are also possible in certain instances. They are intended to penalize doctors for particularly indecent behavior, such as leaving a dirty sponge in the patient's body after surgery.

Pain and suffering

In medical malpractice cases the pain and suffering of the victim is an example of non-economic damages. The damages cover the physical and mental trauma that a victim suffered due to the negligence of the doctor. The symptoms can be minor, like discomfort or anxiety or more serious, such as loss of enjoyment of life, depression, embarrassment, fear, and sleep problems.

It's difficult to put a dollar amount on suffering and pain, so jury instructions generally leave the decision to jurors to use their own judgment, background, and experience in determining what they believe is reasonable and fair. The amounts that are awarded in malpractice suits vary widely.

Your medical malpractice attorney can help you prove the severity of your suffering by using evidence that can be used to prove your case. Photos, X-rays, models, home movies, diagrams and drawings can all help a jury see the severity of your injuries and understand how they affected your daily routine.

If a medical professional's negligence resulted in the death of a patient's family members, the heirs could be able to recover damages through the survival statutes or wrongful deaths lawsuits. Laws governing wrongful deaths allow the spouse and children of a victim who died to receive the same amount of compensation they would have received if the patient had survived. The amount that a victim is entitled to is usually restricted by the state's cap on suffering and pain. This is why it's so important to have a seasoned medical malpractice lawyer on your side to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.

Lost wages

You can recover your lost wages in the event that you miss work due to medical negligence. This includes your base salary, bonuses, commissions and benefits from employment. It also includes any pay raises or pay increases. Your attorney will review past pay stubs and determine your average earnings prior to your injury. Then, subtract the missing work from the amount to calculate your total lost earnings. Your attorney can help determine the loss you will incur in the future income through a current value calculation. This is an analysis of finances that looks at the impact of your injuries in the future on your ability to earn a living. This is usually done by a professional who is hired by your attorney.

In addition to reimbursing your economic losses, you may also claim non-economic damages for pain and suffering triggered by the malpractice incident. The jury will determine the amount of compensation that is appropriate which varies from case to case. Certain states, however, have a limit on these damages, and they've been declared illegal in a variety of cases.

Settlements of seven figures tend to be connected with serious permanent injuries or wrongful death resulting from extreme healthcare neglect. For instance, surgical errors which result in amputations or obstetric errors leading to infant brain damage and death, and anesthesia mistakes leading to comas may all warrant high-value settlements. Punitive damages, designed to punish bad behaviour, may also be available in certain circumstances.

Future medical treatment costs - Damages

In the case of medical malpractice there are two types of damages a plaintiff could pursue: non-economic and economic damages. The first is based on quantifiable financial losses, like past and future medical expenses. The latter are more difficult to quantify, and includes the suffering and pain as well as loss of enjoyment of life. In a lawsuit involving medical negligence the jury is required to examine expert testimony to determine the losses of these kinds.

It is relatively easy to establish past medical expenses by providing actual bills given to the injured person by their health care providers. For future expenses, the lawyer for the plaintiff will provide medical evidence that shows the kind of treatment likely to be required in the near future and what the treatment will cost currently. The amount of future medical treatment required can also be affected by the victim's ages at the time of malpractice attorney.

In order to establish damages for future loss of wages is feasible by proving how the injury has affected the patient's earning capacity and ability to work. This can be proven by expert testimony or by studying similar cases in the past.

Pain and suffering is an umbrella term that refers to the physical and mental distress and discomfort that patients suffer as a result of medical negligence. The type of damages are typically based on testimony from the victim and other witnesses and other evidence such as videos, photographs and written reports.