Which Damages Can You Recover in Medical Malpractice Cases?

Medical malpractice cases result from the negligent actions of physicians and other health care providers. If you have suffered any harm from sub-standard treatment, a court can award you economic and non-economic damages. Here are the different damages related to medical negligence. 

General Damages

General damages consider the plaintiff's pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life. For example, if you were an enthusiastic surfer and a surgical error resulted in the inability to use one leg, the court considers the loss of your hobby. Other considerations include:

• Lower quality of life
• Mental pain and suffering
• Physical pain, disfigurement, or impairment

General damages are non-economic as it is hard to place an amount on pain and suffering. Placing a dollar amount on someone's distress over the loss of companionship from loved ones is difficult. This is why awards vary significantly between cases with similar situations. The court considers factors like:

• How the suffering has impacted your daily life
• Your distress over the case or injury
• Loss of consortium where you miss out on companionship from loved ones and family
• The duration and amount of pain

Once you understand general damage, you can move onto more specialized medical malpractice damages.

Special Damages

Special damages are the quantifiable losses that arise from medical malpractice. It's easier to give these damages dollar amounts because there are medical bills, invoices, and written estimates. In this case, you only need an employer's statement that includes your wage and the hours you missed due to the injury. Special damages include:

• Cost of medical treatment to deal with the physician's error. You can recover expenses for hospital stays, surgical procedures, doctors' visits, rehabilitation treatment, transportation to and from hospitals, and other medical costs.
• Lost earning capacity in the present and future. In this case, the court evaluates your age, health, training, life expectancy, occupation, and other factors to determine the compensation amount. Unemployed plaintiffs can still recover damages for lost earnings if they demonstrate what they would have earned during the period in question.

Special damages could also include things like future medical costs to treat issues related to the health provider's negligence and mobility equipment like wheelchairs.

Punitive Damages

Punitive damages, while substantial, are pretty rare. While special and general damages compensate the claimant for harm that arises from medical negligence, punitive damages punish the physician. However, the health care provider must have done something so reckless and deplorable that they would get off lightly if they only compensated the injured party.

As the claimant, you must establish that the health care provider or hospital injured you intentionally. However, most medical malpractice claims involve a physician's negligent actions rather than their deliberate actions to cause harm. Thus, it can be an uphill task to show what the health care provider did was close to criminal, but punitive damages deter medical facilities from cutting corners to improve profits.

Juries and judges have awarded punitive damages for cases like:

• Modifying medical records
• Failure to get a patient's informed consent on a surgery
• Failure to undertake adequate tests to determine a child's health
• It's also important to remember that all these types of damages can have damage caps.

Damages Caps

Many states limit the maximum amount of damages that a claimant can recover. In Texas, you cannot sue physicians for more than $250,000 in total, even if the case involved multiple health care providers. 

Moreover, plaintiffs can only recover a maximum of $250,000 from every healthcare facility. Also, you cannot recover more than $500,000 in non-economic damages from all healthcare centers involved in the suit. Thus, $750,000 is the maximum compensation you can recover for non-economic damages that result from medical negligence. 

Have you or a loved one endured harm from the negligent actions of a healthcare provider? We can help. Our experts at the Law Offices of Janice Maloney will help you determine the value of your case and protect your rights at each step of the legal process. Contact us today to get started.