Malpractice Compensation: The Good The Bad And The Ugly

Medical Malpractice Settlements

Receiving full compensation following medical malpractice can be challenging. Malpractice victims have to bargain with the doctor who was accused and their insurance company, legally referred to as the defendants.

Victims deserve to be compensated for their losses but how do judges and juries calculate the value of a case? This article will look at the most important aspects to be considered when settling a malpractice claim.

Damages

In general, a settlement for medical malpractice is composed of two kinds of damages: economics and non-economics. Economic damages are based upon the possibility of calculating losses, such as medical bills as well as future costs. Non-economic damages include the pain and suffering of others, disfigurement and loss of enjoyment of living.

When you negotiate a medical-malpractice settlement both you and your attorney will work with economists and other financial experts to determine the value of your damages. If you suffer permanent disability due to negligence by a doctor, then the value of your future loss of income is also calculated. This is known as the present value, and it is a complex calculation for which your lawyer will assign experts to help.

In this regard, it is crucial to have an expert medical malpractice lawyer on your side. You could be entitled thousands or millions of dollars in compensation based on the degree and severity of your injuries.

Many kinds of medical malpractice are covered by the highest settlement value that includes missed diagnoses or prenatal errors that result in maternal suffering and minor surgical mistakes. However, some malpractice cases have lower settlement value. These could include allergic reactions that have been cured with medication or a minor error during surgery when the injury was not serious. These types of injuries are less likely to result in a long-term disability and therefore do not warrant the same amount of compensation as a serious injury that will require regular treatment.

Litigation Costs

As with any malpractice case there are many aspects that impact the value of a medical malpractice settlement. These include economic damages that are the price of your future and past costs resulting from the medical malpractice case, as well as non-economic damages.

The first one is the medical bills that you have incurred and the costs of future medical treatment, and any loss of earnings due to absence from work as a result of your injury. The second type of compensation is for pain, suffering and diminished quality of your life due to the negligence which caused your injury. The amount of non-economic damages is usually determined by the severity your injury which is determined using a severity factor (also called a multiplier) which can range between two and five.

Although it could appear as if malpractice lawsuits are dragging doctors to the courtroom for frivolous accusations however, the reality is that malpractice suits account for only 0.3 percent of healthcare costs and are necessary to ensure patients get the medical care they deserve. The majority of medical malpractice cases settle outside of court with lawyers calculating a fair settlement in monetary terms.

Apart from the state laws that determine the minimum value of a case involving medical malpractice, the location in which your claim is filed will also impact the value of your case. Jurors in Baltimore City, Prince George's County and Montgomery County, for example are more favorable to victims of medical negligence.

Attorney's Fees

In the majority of medical malpractice lawsuits your lawyer will be paid on a contingency basis. This means that the attorney will not get paid unless they obtain a settlement or verdict for you, whether through negotiation or trial. This can be a great way to get top-quality legal representation without having to think about the upfront expenses of hiring an attorney in the typical situation.

If a malpractice suit is successful, your attorney will charge you a certain percentage of the amount that you receive in compensation. This is usually 33%, but it could vary based on the expertise and experience of the medical attorney for malpractice. Your lawyer's interest is aligned with yours because they only receive compensation if they are able to recover you money. They will always fight to maximize the amount you get from the settlement.

While this arrangement is great for a lot of victims, it is detrimental in medical malpractice cases. Having a fee structure that pits the financial interests of lawyers against those of their clients is harmful to the relationship between the lawyer and the client. Furthermore, this type fee structure creates an incentive to counsel clients to take a lesser amount than what their case is worth, which can be harmful in many instances.

Settlements outside of the Courtroom

Despite what you may see on television, almost 90% of malpractice cases settle out-of-court with the assistance of attorneys making a reasonable settlement. This is because insurance companies are more likely to settle outside of court than to go through costly litigation.

When negotiating a settlement in the event of an injury, claimants are entitled to compensation for both economic and non-economic damage. Economic damages are a result of the past and future medical expenses, including medications or rehabilitation therapy. They also include the lost wages that result from being away from work as a result of the medical negligence.

Non-economic damages address the mental stress and loss of quality. Mental anguish can be severe emotional distress, which results in post-traumatic stress disorder, apathy anger, and depression. Loss of quality of life is the inability to exercise and sleep or maintain healthy relationships.

Many insurance companies and doctors believe that malpractice claims have led to an unfair trend in settlements. Medical negligence claims make up for 0.3 percent of all medical expenses, according to research and malpractice lawsuits information.

A settlement that is not in court lets the victim keep their privacy and prevents public disclosure of what occurred. In contrast, going to trial forces the victim to revisit the trauma they endured and may expose them to judgments that are hurtful from other people. It is important that victims carefully consider the option of settling their case out of court.