Medical malpractice isn’t a popular subject to discuss. A lot of the time, people simply aren’t aware how much of a danger malpractice can be because they haven’t heard how prevalent it is! In fact, at this time it’s believed that 1 in 10 deaths in the US are caused by medical mistakes and malpractice. As with any claim, it’s important to have the right representation. You need people who have experience in this field and who can get the best returns for you in terms of compensation.
Figuring out what exactly you’re entitled to is where most citizens miss the mark. Let’s take a look at the different areas you could be entitled to compensation for.
Physical Damages
The obvious starting point is the physical damage caused by the malpractice. By definition, something has gone wrong with your medical treatment in this case. That might be something simple enough that it can be corrected through a quick procedure, or it may be that you need extensive work or even that you are limited in some way for the duration of your life.
Any of these situations could bring you more financial outgoings to mitigate. It could be medical costs for treatments, painkillers or other medication. Perhaps your physical limitations mean you now need to hire a carer or cleaner, or perhaps even pay somebody to help you get around. Regardless of the cost, you may be entitled to recover compensation for your losses.
Mental Damages
There’s also the mental side to consider. Physical effects and trauma from the incident itself can greatly affect our mental states. How can this affect you financially? Well, mental issues can greatly hinder a persons ability to work, and even their ability to live a normal life. Having gone in to the situation expecting and trusting they will be looked after, the patient now finds they are more damaged than before and has lost trust in care providers.
This combined with the mental effects of dealing with the aftermath can greatly limit your life. Your finances might be further stretched in dealing with this, whether it’s treatment or therapy, or whether those costs are associated in living with your mental health problems. For example, you might not be willing to leave the house, so you may need to hire somebody to help with shopping etc. Other times a patient will slip into depression and require hired help to maintain themselves and their homes.
Financial Damages
Finally we come to the obvious and most easily measured area of compensation – the financial damage. Medical bills and lost wages for time off are the two biggest areas covered. The tricky part here is in calculating future losses, because you never know if recovery is going to go as scheduled. Sometimes things go wrong and it takes longer to heal than expected.
To cover these situations an experienced attorney really helps. They can negotiate some kind of deal where your treatment itself is covered under the settlement, rather than getting a specific amount to spend on treatment. This way if recovery does take longer than expected, the bill is still being covered by the defendant. That means you can rest easy and focus on getting better, instead of worrying about the cost side of things.
