What Damages are Included in a Medical Malpractice Case?
January 21, 2020
When medical malpractice leads to an individual’s injury, illness, or death, it can negatively impact an individual both financially and emotionally. Those who face injury or illness often lose the ability to work, leading to lost wages. This tends to present a financial burden on a family, especially with high medical bills to fix the injury or illness.
An individual might also face noneconomic losses, such as pain and suffering. Pain and suffering suggest that an individual lost a certain quality of life that they had before the medical malpractice occurred. The amount of damages a victim collects often depends on the losses they endured from the medical malpractice.
Economic Losses
To determine the amount of damages a medical malpractice victim might collect, one should analyze the victim’s present medical bills, future medical bills, lost wages, and lost earning capacity. Medical malpractice might lead to the victim’s disability, which makes it difficult for the victim to earn a living wage in the future. Therefore, the amount of collected damages a victim obtains should be dependent on their lost earning capacity.
To determine a victim’s lost earning capacity, an economist likely needs to get involved. If medical malpractice leads to a 20-year disability, the economist needs to determine how much money a victim would make in that amount of time. The amount of money one receives from lost earning capacity is dependent on the amount they currently make and the length of the impacted earning capacity.
Similarly, in medical malpractice cases that involve catastrophic injuries, a medical economist might be required because it often takes an expert to determine the amount of money an individual needs to have medical care for the remainder of the victim’s life.
Non-Economic Losses
It is often difficult to determine a dollar amount to put on non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering. Pain and suffering typically includes:
- Loss of enjoyment of life
- Fear
- Anxiety
- Depression
- Humiliation
The amount of damages a victim collects for pain and suffering varies, however, keeping a consistent testimony, being a credible witness, and having a clean criminal record all aid in maximizing a victim’s damages. To find more ways to maximize the damages in one’s medical malpractice lawsuit, victims are encouraged to contact a medical malpractice lawyer.
Baltimore Medical Malpractice Lawyers at LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton Help Those Facing Losses Due to Medical Negligence
If you have concerns about filing a medical malpractice claim, contact a Baltimore medical malpractice lawyer at LeViness, Tolzman & Hamilton. Our lawyers hold responsible parties accountable for the negligent behaviors that lead to injury, illness, or fatality. If you are interested in consulting with a medical malpractice lawyer, contact us online or call us at 800-547-4LAW (4529) for a free consultation.
Our offices are located in Baltimore, Columbia, Glen Burnie, and Prince George’s County, allowing us to represent medical malpractice victims in Maryland, including those in Anne Arundel County, Baltimore County, Carroll County, Harford County, Howard County, Montgomery County, Maryland’s Western Counties, Prince George’s County, Queen Anne’s County, Southern Maryland, and the Eastern Shore, as well as the communities of Catonsville, Essex, Halethorpe, Middle River, Rosedale, Gwynn Oak, Brooklandville, Dundalk, Pikesville, Nottingham, Windsor Mill, Lutherville, Timonium, Sparrows Point, Ridgewood, and Elkridge.
