Understanding Your Rights to Medical Malpractice Compensation in New York
Medical malpractice can lead to many damages, including high-cost medical care, lost income and damages not based on economics, such as pain and suffering. A reputable New York attorney can help you know your rights to claim compensation.
First consider if your injuries were caused by a medical mistake. You can then start a lawsuit for malpractice.
Medical expenses
The cost of medical care to treat injuries is the most obvious. It's important to understand that this type of damage is limited by state law at a limit set by the liability of a health provider's insurance policy. Some states have also set up injured patient compensation funds in order to cover the perceived costs of litigation and to help health care providers cut their liability insurance premiums.
Victims are entitled to compensation in addition to medical costs in the event of negligence being deemed to be a cause. These are referred to as special or economic damages. They include the costs of any medical procedures (past and in the future) that are required to address the injury resulting from the malpractice, as well in any loss of income caused by being unable to work because of the injury.
Damages for suffering and pain are typical in medical
malpractice lawsuits cases. This category of damages is subjective and could vary significantly between different plaintiffs. It includes any physical pain, emotional distress as well as other physical effects that result from the negligence. For instance, a plaintiff, could be compensated if an error by a doctor which caused her to not attend a vital cancer screening.
Finally, punitive damages are also possible in certain instances. They are intended to penalize the doctor for egregious behavior, like leaving a dirty sponge inside the patient's body after surgery.
Suffering and pain
Pain and suffering is an example of non-economic damages that are incurred in medical malpractice cases. They cover the physical and emotional trauma a victim has suffered as a result of the medical professional's negligence. The symptoms can be minor such as anxiety or discomfort or even more severe symptoms, such as loss of enjoyment in life, depression, embarrassment, anxiety, and sleep disorders.
It's not easy to put a dollar amount on pain and suffering, so jury instructions usually leave the decision to jurors to make use of their own judgment as well as their background and experience in determining what is reasonable and fair. This is why the amount of money awarded in malpractice cases vary significantly.
A medical malpractice lawyer can assist you in proving the severity of your suffering by using demonstrative evidence. Photos and X-rays, along with home movies, models and diagrams can aid jurors in understanding the severity of your injuries.
If a medical professional's negligence caused the death of a patient, heirs could be able to recover damages through the survival statutes or wrongful death lawsuits. In the case of wrongful death, laws generally allow a deceased victim's spouse and children to recover the same types of compensation as they would have received had the patient survived. Typically, however, the total amount of damages a victim receives is limited by the state's damage limits for suffering and pain. This is why it's so important to have a knowledgeable medical
malpractice lawyer on your side to ensure you receive the compensation you deserve.
Lost wages
If you are unable to work due to medical error, you can recover lost wages. This amount includes your base pay as well as commissions, bonuses, employment benefits, raises in pay, and retirement fund contributions. Your attorney will look over your past pay stubs to determine your average earnings prior to the accident. Then, subtract your absence from that number to calculate your total lost earnings. Your lawyer can also help you determine the future loss of earnings by using a present value calculation. This is a financial analysis that examines the impact of your injuries in the future on your ability to earn a living. It is usually done by a professional who is hired by your attorney.
You can also recover non-economic damages, such as suffering and pain resulted from the malpractice. The jury will decide on the appropriate amount of compensation for these damages, and it can vary widely from case to case. Some states have a limit on these damages. However they have been deemed unconstitutional by many courts.
Seven-figure settlements usually involve serious permanent injuries or wrongful deaths caused by extreme healthcare neglect. For instance, surgical errors resulting in amputations, complications during obstetrics that cause infant brain damage and death, as well as anesthesia errors that cause comas could all be the reason for high-value settlements. Punitive damages, intended to punish bad behavior can also be awarded in certain instances.
Future medical treatment and damages
In a case of medical negligence the plaintiff may pursue economic or non-economic damages. The former is based on calculable losses, such as past or future medical expenses. The latter is more difficult to quantify, and includes pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of living. In a case of medical malpractice the jury will have to hear testimony from experts in order to judge the kind of losses.
It is fairly easy to establish past medical expenses by providing actual bills given to the injured person by their health medical professionals. For future costs, the lawyer representing the plaintiff will submit medical evidence that demonstrates the kind of treatment likely to be required in the future and what the treatment will cost currently. The amount of future medical treatment required can also be dependent on the age of the victim at the time of malpractice.
The damages for lost wages in the future can be proven by proving the impact of the injury on a patient's capacity to work and earn in the future. This can be supported by expert testimony or examining similar cases in the past.
Pain and suffering is a broader class of damages that encompasses the physical and psychological discomfort and suffering suffers patients because of medical Malpractice (
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