You may have turned to your trusted medical professional if you were suffering from an injury or illness. Arguably, there is nothing more devastating than when this medical professional’s negligent treatment plan makes your health condition all the more serious. So if this is your case, then you must seek compensation for your injuries and damages via a medical malpractice lawsuit. Follow along to find out what compensation you may seek in your legal action and how a proficient New York City medical malpractice attorney at Mark L. Bodner, P.C. can fight on your behalf.
What type of compensation can I seek in a medical malpractice lawsuit?
When figuring out what to claim as a plaintiff of a medical malpractice lawsuit, you may only be focusing on your medical expenses. This may entail the cost of your hospitalizations, surgeries, rehabilitation therapies, prescription medications, assistive medical devices, and more. Though medical expenses are important to claim, they are not the only thing you should be claiming. That is, you must also think about the other economic damages you incurred as a direct result of your accident. Economic damages refer to your monetary damages, and examples are as follows:
- Your lost wages, due to your inability to return to your job in the weeks, months, or years following your medical malpractice incident.
- Your lost earning capacity, due to your inability to return to your field of work in the weeks, months, or years following your medical malpractice incident.
- Your property reconstruction bills, due to your need to make your home and car handicap accessible following your medical malpractice incident.
- Your in-home nursing and domestic services bills, due to your inability to perform normal day-to-day tasks following your medical malpractice incident.
Also of note, you may claim that you suffered from non-economic damages. This may entail your physical pain and suffering, mental trauma and anguish, emotional distress, deteriorated quality of life, and more. There is no harm in seeking this recovery, as there is no damage cap for non-economic damages in New York State. Meaning, juries are free to award any amount they deem appropriate.
Can I seek punitive damages?
In addition to economic and non-economic damages, you may also seek punitive damages in your medical malpractice lawsuit. Punitive damages are not intended to serve as a form of financial compensation for you. Rather, they are intended to serve as a punishment to the medical professional so that they may not perform such negligent conduct in the future. This is considered to be an extraordinary award, yet there is no cap set in New York State.
The bottom line is that, if you were wronged by a medical professional, then you need a talented New York City medical malpractice attorney in your corner. Call or send a message to Mark L. Bodner, P.C. today. We look forward to hearing from you.