Ronald Mercaldo

There are several items of damages that can be recovered in medical malpractice cases. The medical expenses for treating the injuries caused by the malpractice can be recovered. This claim can include medical expenses the injured patient can prove will be reasonably necessary to treat the injury caused by the malpractice in the future. The jury can consider whether the injured patient has health insurance and any payments made by a health insurer or government benefits and any claims a health insurer or the government may have to reimbursement for payments made for treatment made necessary by the malpractice. For more information on claims by health insurers for reimbursement, see, Do I have to pay my insurance company back out of a recovery for medical malpractice? and Do I have to pay back government benefits paid to me because of an injury? Arizona law also permits recovery of lost income. An injured patient can recover money to replace income they would have earned at their job or business if the health care provider had not injured them. This claim can include income the injured patient can prove will probably be lost in the future because of the injuries caused by the malpractice. The jury can consider any insurance or government benefits paid for this loss as well. A related damage is lost earning capacity. The jury can award damages if the injured patient can prove he or she is less able to earn a living because of the negligently caused injuries. For example, a carpenter who loses the use of one of his legs will be less likely to be able to obtain employment in the construction industry, because he will not be as able to perform the heavy labor required of carpenters than a normally healthy person. The injured carpenter may be able to obtain other employment that allows him to earn almost as much as he did when he was a carpenter, however, the jury can award him damages because he will have more trouble finding work because of his injuries. An injured patient can also recover damages for pain and suffering. This damage is designed to compensate the injured patient for having to endure the pain and suffering from the injury caused by the health care provider’s negligence. This damage can be awarded for pain and suffering already endured and for that pain and suffering the injured patient can prove is reasonably likely to be suffered in the future. Disfigurement and disability are damages related to pain and suffering. The jury can award damages for the anguish of a disfiguring injury, both past and future and for a disabling injury. Damages for disfigurement and disability are to compensate for the physical and emotional distress caused by disfigurement or disability. Damages for pain, suffering, disability and disfigurement are assessed in light of the nature, extent and length of time the injury lasts. These damages usually account for the majority of damages an injured person recovers. Sometimes a person is so severely injured that he or she cannot care for and support loved ones the way he or she did before the injury. In appropriate circumstances, Arizona law permits damages to be recovered by spouses, children and parents of negligently injured people for the loss of the love, care, affection, companionship and other pleasures of the family relationship that are lost because of the injury. For example, a minor child whose mother is disabled suffers a significant loss because the mother’s disability prevents her from being actively involved in raising the child. The child in that case can recover damages to compensate for that loss. Determining which damages a person injured by medical malpractice may recover requires a careful examination of the facts, and the legal and medical issues involved in each case. You should consult with a qualified lawyer if you suspect you have been the victim of medical malpractice so that the lawyer can thoroughly and properly evaluate which damages you may be entitled to recover in your particular situation. For information about damages for death caused by medical malpractice, see Can anything be recovered if medical practice causes the patient to die?

A doctor commits medical malpractice by negligently providing medical services when that negligence causes or contributes to injuring the patient. The injured party must first prove that the health care provider fell below the standard of care for similar health care providers in Arizona. That means the health care provider failed to act as a reasonable and prudent health care provider in Arizona would under similar circumstances. The health care provider can fall below the standard of care by doing an act that is wrong under the circumstances, for example providing the wrong treatment for an illness or injury, or by failing to act when action was necessary, like failing to properly diagnose a disease or injury. The injured patient must then prove that the health care provider’s breach of the standard of care was a cause of significant injury to the patient. The health care provider’s error does not have to be the only cause of the injury, it only must contribute to it. For example, a doctor who fails to diagnose cancer in a patient does not cause the cancer, but the doctor can still be liable for malpractice because the delay in dealing with the cancer caused by the failure to diagnose it may lead to a significantly higher risk of death from the cancer than had it been diagnosed and treated properly. Determining whether a health care provider may be liable for medical malpractice requires a mix of legal and medical evaluations. You should consult with a qualified lawyer if you suspect you have been the victim of medical malpractice so that the lawyer can thoroughly and properly evaluate the legal and medical issues involved in your particular situation. For more information about case evaluation, see How does the Mercaldo Law Firm evaluate my medical malpractice case?