Medical Malpractice Settlements
Getting full compensation after medical malpractice can be a challenge. Patients who suffer from malpractice are required to negotiate with the doctor accused and their insurance company, who are legally referred to as defendants.
Victims deserve to be compensated for their losses however, how do judges and juries calculate the value of a case? This article will examine the main factors that affect the settlement of a malpractice case.
Damages
In general, a
malpractice lawyers settlement is comprised of two different kinds of damages that are non-economic and economic. Economic damages are based on calculable expenses, such as medical bills and future care costs. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life.
Your attorney and you will consult with financial experts and economists in order to determine the amount of your losses. If you are permanently disabled because of negligence of a physician, then the value of your future lost income is also determined. This is called the present value, and it is a complicated calculation for which your lawyer will assign a specialist to assist.
It is essential to have an experienced medical
malpractice attorney to represent you. You could be entitled thousands or millions of dollars in compensation, based on the severity and extent of your injury.
Many types of medical malpractice cases have a high settlement value for misdiagnosis, prenatal mistakes that cause maternal suffering, and minor surgical mistakes. However, some malpractice cases have lower settlement value. This includes minor surgical errors or allergic reactions that can be treated with medication. These injuries are less likely to result in an extended disability and do not merit the same amount of compensation as a more serious injury that will require regular treatment.
Costs for litigation
Like all malpractice cases, there are numerous factors that influence the worth of a medical malpractice settlement. These include economic damages that are the price of your future and past costs resulting from the malpractice, as well other damages that are not economic.
The first one includes any medical bills that you have paid and the cost of future medical treatment, and any lost wages resulting from time away from work because of your injury. The second type of compensation is for pain, suffering and the loss of quality of life due to of the negligence that caused your injury. Non-economic damages are usually based on the severity of your injury which is determined using a seriousness factor (also called a multiplier) which varies between two and five.
It could appear that doctors are being dragged to the courtroom by frivolous lawsuits but the reality is that malpractice suits are only 0.3% of healthcare costs. They are essential to ensure that patients receive the medical attention they need. The majority of medical malpractice cases settle out of court by negotiating a fair monetary settlement.
Apart from the state laws that determine the minimum value of a case involving medical malpractice the location where your claim is filed will determine the value of your claim. For instance, jurors in Baltimore City and Prince George's County are generally favorable toward victims of medical malpractice, whereas Anne Arundel, Carroll County, and Montgomery County are less so.
Attorney's Fees
In the majority of medical malpractice lawsuits your lawyer will be paid on the basis of a contingency. The lawyer will not be paid until you receive a settlement, verdict or award via negotiation or trial. This is an excellent option to get the best legal representation without having to come up with the upfront costs of hiring an attorney in a typical case.
If a lawsuit for malpractice is successful, your attorney will be charged a specific percentage of the amount you receive in compensation. It is usually 33%, but it may differ depending on the expertise and experience of your medical malpractice lawyer. Because your lawyer only gets paid if they recover funds for you, their interests are aligned with yours and they will always fight hard to maximize the amount you get in your settlement for malpractice.
This arrangement can be beneficial to certain victims, but it can be detrimental for those dealing with medical malpractice cases. A fee structure that pits lawyers' financial interests against those of their clients is fundamentally detrimental to the relationship between client and lawyer. This kind of fee structure creates an incentive for lawyers to tell clients to settle their cases for less than they are worth. This can be harmful to a large number of clients.
Settlements Outside of the Courtroom
Contrary to what you'll watch on TV, more than 90% of malpractice cases are settled out of court with the help of attorneys who calculate a fair settlement. This is because insurance companies are more likely to settle out of court rather than engage in expensive litigation.
In the course of negotiations for a settlement in the event of an injury, claimants are entitled to compensation for both economic and non-economic damages. Economic damages are a result of the past and future medical expenses, which include medications or rehabilitation therapy. They also include lost wages from time off work as a result of the medical negligence.
Non-economic injuries address mental distress, as well as loss of quality. Mental anguish can include severe emotional distress, which results in post-traumatic stress disorder, apathy depression, and anger. Loss of Quality of Life is the inability to exercise, sleeping, or maintaining healthy relationships.
Many insurance companies and doctors believe that malpractice claims are the cause of an unfair trend in settlements. However, research and statistics reveal that medical negligence claims are only about 0.3 percent of healthcare costs.
In addition the option of settling a case outside of court allows the victim to keep their privacy and avoid public disclosure of what happened to them. Contrarily, going to trial forces the victim to revisit the events that they went through and could subject them to hurtful judgments from others. This is why the decision to settle the case out of court an important decision that every victim should carefully consider.