Money damages in doctor malpractice lawsuits

If the doctor is found responsible or liable for doctor malpractice, a patient is compensated in money for the injury he or she has suffered. These payments in money are called damages.

There are two major types of damages:

(1) Compensatory damages. This is the most common type of damages and is pretty straightforward. This means money paid for the actual injury or loss, such as medical and hospital bills, rehabilitation expenses, prescription drugs, ambulance expenses, nursing home care, domestic services, lost income, loss of future income and increased living expenses. Loss of future income is somewhat difficult to put a figure on. If the doctor injured a computer programmer, the doctor will pay much more in compensation for lost earnings than if the injury was to someone who is poor or retired.

Other damages you can recover include physical pain and suffering, mental and emotional anguish, inconvenience, disfigurement, loss of enjoyment of life and "loss of consortium" (the loss of company/love/relations with your spouse). A lot of states have imposed limits on the amount of damages one can claim in medical malpractice cases. So, pain and suffering for the same injury may be in the millions in one state, but will be $250,000 or even less in another state that sets $250,000 as maximum limit for pain and suffering damages.

It’s difficult to put a dollar amount on suffering. This is true with every party in a in a medical lawsuit.

In addition to damages that injured patient may recover, the doctor malpractice victim’s family may in addition also be entitled to damages for loss of care, companionship, love and affection. In case the medical malpractice victim dies, family members may be compensated for wrongful death, which usually includes medical and burial expenses, emotional suffering, loss of income as well as loss of the dead patient’s companionship and affection.

(2) Punitive Damages: This type of damages has no other purpose than to punish the doctor for his or her medical negligence. It is hard or even rare to obtain this kind of damages in doctor malpractice cases. Before the court may grant this type of award it must be clearly established that the doctor acted in a willful, wanton or malicious way or was motivated by evil motive, intent to injure, ill will, or fraud.