In 2013, the total payout in medical malpractice was $3,733,678,100, which was an increase of 4.7% from 2012. 38 states had more payout than they did in 2012.
In 2013, the total payout in medical malpractice was $3,733,678,100, which was an increase of 4.7% from 2012. 38 states had more payout than they did in 2012.
45% of payment amounts were for medical malpractice claims regarding inpatient cases, while 38% of the payouts were for outpatient malpractice cases. 33% of medical malpractice cases involved diagnosis errors, 28% were surgery errors while 18% were related to treatment.
Calculating damages in a medical malpractice case involves accounting on one part and appraising and estimating on another. There are certain types of medical malpractice damages are easy to calculate while others are controlled by statute. Additionally, you may need to consider “damage caps” which are legally-imposed limits, depending on the jurisdiction in which you are filing your case.
Damages in a Medical Malpractice Case
Damages for injuries caused by medical malpractice are awarded in the form of money for compensation to the injured person. You may be entitled to two types of damages.
The first is economic damages which are easily calculated in most cases. These include losses such as medical bills, cost of medications, lost income or wages, etc. Second, there are non-economic damages which are a little more challenging to quantify. They mainly include damages for pain and suffering, emotional distress, inconvenience, etc.
Once it is established that you have a viable medical malpractice case and you are able to prove your economic losses, your location in the country will play a role in whether or not you can recover non-economic damages. Limitations for awards for pain and suffering are being pushed by the medical community due to what it claims is high malpractice insurance costs and the difficulty that doctors face in obtaining it. There are limits in many states already or there are about to be.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are designed strictly to serve as punishment to the negligent party as well as serve as a deterrent to potential negligent parties in the future. These types of damages are not always available. Whether or not a plaintiff can recover punitive damages depends on the laws of the jurisdiction in which the case is filed. In several states, laws have been passed that make punitive damages available only in medical malpractice that involve intentional malpractice or gross negligence.
Punitive damages require that a doctor must have known that they were behaving in a negligent way that could harm the patient. It is up to the judge or jury to decide the exact amount of punitive damages, but typically it cannot exceed several times the amount of the general and special damages.
Call RMFW Law – We Know How to Fight Med Mal Cases
If you or a loved one has been injured or harmed due to medical malpractice, you should immediately seek the help of the qualified and experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Rosenberg, Minc, Falloff, & Wolff of RMFW Law at 212-344-1000.
Medical malpractice cases are expensive. They last more than one day as well. If your case is viable, we will carry the legal baton for you all the way to the finish line, the finish line can be a final verdict or a settlement – it does not matter, we will keep you informed every step of the way. Give us a call. What do you have to say? What really happened? The nurses and doctors are not really going to communicate with you now. They know you have a case and you are suffering because they were negligent.
They will continue to treat you but they will not help you sue one of their colleagues, most likely not. There are ways to win these types of cases. RMFW Law knows how to get the job done. We have been around the block before many times.
