All people today are entitled to quality healthcare. If you try to receive healthcare attention from a professional and do not receive quality care, the results could be damaging. If you suffer from an injury, misdiagnosis, or another casualty due to the negligence of a physician, surgeon, or another healthcare provider, seeking a medical malpractice case could be a good option.
If you do pursue a medical malpractice lawsuit, all of the deliberations will likely take place outside of the courtroom and will be handled through a settlement. The ultimate amount of money that you can expect to receive through the settlement will depend on a variety of factors.
1. Economic Damages
When you are pursuing a medical malpractice case, the first thing that malpractice lawyers will consider is the economic loss and cost of your situation.
If you are injured due to the negligence of a healthcare provider, you could end up losing money due to higher medical bills, the inability to work, and a variety of other factors that can make the situation very expensive.
All of these economic costs will go into consideration when you are seeking a judgment against the healthcare provider.
2. Non-Economic Damages
While the economic damages that can come with a medical malpractice case can be severe, there are non-economic damages as well that need to be taken into consideration.
If you are injured due to the negligence of a healthcare professional, you could end up going through a lot of pain and suffering, frustration, and additional medical care in order to recover fully.
While this is a non-economic cost that is a lot harder to determine and calculate, it will always go into consideration when trying to determine the fair amount of money that you should settle for.
3. Level of Negligence
Another factor that will influence the amount of money that you should expect to receive through a malpractice settlement is the level of negligence that is evidenced.
If the physician, surgeon, or other healthcare professional was extremely negligent and obviously made a serious mistake, you will likely be able to settle for a higher amount due to the shock value of the situation.
This compares to a situation in which the negligence is harder to define, which will make it harder to receive a larger settlement as blame will be harder to identify in these cases.
4. Trial Value
Finally, the trial value of your case will also influence the amount of money that you can expect to receive from a settlement. If you do choose to go through the court case process, there is always a chance that you will lose the case entirely. In these situations, you could be out a lot of money in legal costs and will earn nothing. Because of this, you need to factor the risk of a trial into your settlement expectations. Generally speaking, the higher the risk of losing at trial, the lower the amount you and the malpractice lawyers should expect to receive through the case judgment.