Your compensable losses in a medical malpractice lawsuit rest on the severity of your condition, the extent of the error, and your quality of life. There is no standard set of damages you can claim following a serious medical malpractice injury. There isn’t a standard settlement value, either.
When you entrust your case to the Dallas medical malpractice lawyers at Loncar Lyon Jenkins, we evaluate your economic and non-economic damages at the beginning of our partnership. That way, we build your case in accordance with what you’re aiming to recover. You can rest assured that with our advocacy, we’re seeking everything you need to take back your life or adapt to your new normal.
Compensable Economic Damages in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Your economic damages relate to specific financial losses. We assess their values using bills, estimates, invoices, employment records, and receipts. They include (but are not limited to):
Medical Expenses
Healthcare costs could comprise a significant portion of your personal injury claim—especially if you suffered a life-altering condition, such as a traumatic brain injury. Compensable expenses in this category include:
- Emergency transportation
- Hospitalization
- Surgeries
- Doctors’ co-pays
- Medications (both prescribed and over-the-counter)
- Physical therapy
- In-home nursing
- Assistive devices, such as wheelchairs
Lost Wages
You can recover every employment-related loss from when you could not work. This could include reimbursement for lost tips, bonuses, benefits, and paid time off. If your condition will affect your earning capacity in the long term, we can include the cost of your reduce future earning potential in your case’s value.
Related Out-of-Pocket Costs
You may have expenses that do not fit into any of the categories listed above, such as temporary transportation arrangements and childcare costs. Those losses are compensable through a medical malpractice claim or lawsuit.
Recoverable Non-Economic Damages in a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
Your compensable losses extend beyond your financial losses. They can also account for the physical and emotional hardships the malpractice inflicted. These include:
Pain and Suffering
Pain and suffering reflects the physical pain and emotional trauma of the medical malpractice incident. Its value varies from case to case.
Disability
The medical error or omission may have resulted in a long-term physical or cognitive disability. A settlement or court award could offer compensation for that hardship.
Scarring
Visible scarring could alter your appearance, lead to a loss of income, and jeopardize your mental health. Your medical malpractice lawyer aims to have that loss included in your claim if applicable.
Types of Damages in a Medical Malpractice Wrongful Death Case
If you lost a loved one to medical malpractice, you could have grounds for a wrongful death case. Here, compensation would reflect what the decedent could have pursued had they lived to file a personal injury lawsuit. It can also reflect the losses that survivors faced following the decedent’s death.
Compensable losses in a wrongful death lawsuit could include:
- Funeral and burial costs
- End-of-life care expenses
- Loss of consortium
- The decedent’s pain and suffering
- The decedent’s lost income
You Have a Limited Time to File a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in Texas
Reaching maximum medical improvement doesn’t come with a deadline. You have all the time in the world to recover from your condition or adapt to your new quality of life. However, you have a limited time to file a medical malpractice lawsuit.
Per Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code § 16.003, you generally have two years to file your medical malpractice lawsuit. This is the same deadline that applies to all civil lawsuits. Your filing deadline generally begins from the date of the error or when you discovered it. If you were injured as a minor (perhaps you suffered a birth injury), your filing deadline would begin from the date of your 18th birthday.
Our medical malpractice lawyers ensure you comply with all deadlines once we take your case. However, if you wait too long to secure our advocacy, the deadline could expire, and you could lose the right to hold the negligent party accountable.
How a Medical Malpractice Attorney Pursues Your Personal Injury Lawsuit
All healthcare providers, from doctors to nurses, must provide the best possible standard of care to their patients. This includes checking patients’ medical histories, making correct diagnoses, and responding appropriately to medical emergencies. Anything that falls short of the medical field’s accepted standard could constitute negligence.
Our team intends to show that because a healthcare provider acted negligently, you were injured and have compensable losses. To this end, we:
- Investigate the incident. This may involve reviewing medical records, consulting with third-party healthcare experts, and listening to your story.
- Assess your losses. Determining what constitutes a fair settlement requires our team to understand the severity of your condition, its effect on your life, and what compensation could help you move forward.
- Identify the liable party. Liability could rest with a hospital, facility’s administration, or an individual. It all depends on the facts of your case.
- Negotiate a settlement. We resolve many medical malpractice cases through negotiations. Successful negotiations require our team to combat allegations of fault and maintain communications.
- File a lawsuit. Filing a lawsuit after suffering medical malpractice may seem like an insurmountable task. Yet, with our team’s advocacy, all you have to focus on is getting better. We handle cross-examinations, depositions, and everything else your case requires.
Our personal injury law firm offers support on a contingency-fee basis. You don’t pay by-the-hour rates or retainers. Compensation for our attorney’s fees comes from the compensation we get for you. We only get paid if you do. If your case doesn’t succeed, you don’t pay anything.
Learn About Your Legal Options During a Free Consultation
You can generally recover economic and non-economic damages after suffering medical malpractice. These include medical bills, lost income, and pain and suffering—but they can include other types of losses, too.
Loncar Lyon Jenkins offers free, no-obligation consultations to those who have suffered medical malpractice or lost a loved one. Call now to connect with our team.
