Medical Malpractice Lawyer

If you are preparing a medical malpractice lawsuit in New York against a negligent party, the circumstances of your case will determine the types of compensation you would receive if you won in court. Typically, medical malpractice cases involve general, special, and punitive damages. General damages cover the plaintiff’s pain and suffering. It’s impossible to determine the exact monetary worth of intangible damages, but a judge will decide a reasonable sum for the physical pain and mental distress suffered by the patient, their lost future earning ability, and diminished quality of life. Special damages are more easily quantified and include lost wages from time spent out of work, medical bills, and the costs of necessary ongoing treatments. The court may award punitive damages in cases where the doctor knew he or she was harming or endangering the patient. An example of this would be a doctor sabotaging a surgical procedure so that the patient would require a second surgery. Some states place limits on how much an injured patient may recover from a medical malpractice lawsuit. Sometimes, the court reduces the plaintiff’s awarded damages by the amount of compensation he or she receives from other sources, such as insurance payouts. Additionally, if a patient dies from medical malpractice, survival and wrongful death statutes (which vary among states) limit compensation for surviving loved ones. Survival statutes typically limit the plaintiffs to collecting compensation for damages that took place between the event in question and the victim’s death, while wrongful death statutes compensate them for the deceased’s lost future income.