Possible Damages Paid in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit

What type of lawsuit could be more psychologically devastating than a medical malpractice lawsuit? We literally put our lives in the hands of doctors and physicians. We trust them to know what they're doing and to make the right, most responsible decisions. For many of us, the idea that they may be negligent or make a mistake never even crosses our mind when going under the knife or taking their professional word as gold. That's why when they let us down it can be such a psychologically damaging situation not to mention the physical consequences of their mistakes. But what can we really do about it?

Well, it really depends on the nature of the incident, but there are variety of different damages that can be pursued in a medical malpractice suit. Of course the first to do is talk with an attorney, but to give you a basic idea of the process, let's talk about the damages that you may pursue.

In the vast majority of cases, this type of lawsuit is considered compensatory. This means that any rewards given will be measured by the damages received. That means medical costs due to the malpractice, rehabilitation costs, money paid for personal assistance, painkillers and/or prescription drugs, or even compensation attributed to loss of income from time off work.

However, as mentioned before, medical malpractice brings into play a psychological aspect. And for that reason, even compensatory cases can include another element. This element includes financial compensation for the less apparent side effects of the incident. This is usually the case when the more critical injuries and disfigurements occur and may cover everything from relationship problems, psychological affects, or loss of life satisfaction. These are the kind of things that are hard to put a number on, but most people would agree that receiving some kind of compensation for this type of suffering is better than nothing at all.

What about when medical malpractice results in death? You can be sure that in a case like this a medical malpractice lawyer will do what they can to get even further compensation. This includes for funeral costs, medical costs left to the family as a result, loss of income that puts a strain on the family, and the pain and suffering of family members forced to go on without their loved one.

But there is also a chance that a case will be even more complex than that and that is when a doctor is believed to have intentionally caused personal damage to the patient. This is, of course, the most difficult to prove, but it is all the more important to pursue action when damage occurs in these cases based more on maliciousness than negligence. It is important to make sure that others do not end up being victimized in the future. The damages pursued in a case like this are called punitive damages, and the burden of evidence is pretty high.