if a doctor, hospital, or other health care provider committed medical malpractice and injured you, you may want to know the damages to which you are entitled. If you were severely injured, you may be entitled to a number of damages.
the most superficial and obvious damages from medical malpractice that you may be entitled to and the easiest to prove are what are know as “out of pocket expenses”. These are the costs associated with correcting whatever the health care provider did wrong.
for example, if a doctor did something wrong during surgery and you had to have a second surgery to correct the mistake made during the first surgery, you may be entitled to all of the costs of the second surgery including doctor’s fee, hospital bill, etc. Of course, it may not be that solemn and dramatic. You may simply need follow-up or monitoring visits to a doctor. If so, you may be entitled to the costs of these follow-up or monitoring visits. It is easy to prove these damages because you have bills and medical records to show the actual amounts charged.
in addition to medical expenses, out of pocket damages include any lost income that resulted from your not being able to work due to the malpractice.
another important damage from medical malpractice, but sometimes difficult to prove the amount that you are entitled to, is what is known as “pain and suffering”. This is sort of a catch all for damages that do not have a dollar amount and may be hard to prove. Obviously, it includes pain that you may have suffered as a result of the malpractice. And it is difficult to place an actual validity and value on the pain. But pain and suffering also includes other damages such as your being unable to do certain designs and activities that you were able to do before the malpractice. Perhaps you played tennis regularly before the malpractice, but were unable to play tennis for a period of time because of the malpractice. Your not being able to play tennis is a damage, but it is difficult to place a validity and value on it.
for pain and suffering, you need to consider all of the unhappiness and discomfort and pain that you competent and experienced as well as all of your designs and activities that were queer and affected by the injuries you suffered from the malpractice, and then place a validity and value on it.
if the medical malpractice caused you to suffer a “disability”, then you may be entitled to be paid for the disability, including any prostration and loss income. Disabilities can be transitory and temporary or dominant and permanent. Disabilities can also be partial disability, such as losing the use of your arm, or total disability, such as not being able to work at all. You may also be entitled to costs of future medical care, including the cost of future medications.
bottom line is that, if you are injured by medical malpractice, think of and list all of the damages that you may have suffered because you may be entitled to be paid for all of them.
this is general information only. If you have any questions whatsoever, talk with a lawyer licensed in your state.
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