You can be compensated for the injury or harm that you suffered as a result for the negligence. Medical evidence will be required for proving the extent of physical or psychiatric injury that you suffered along with its consequences such as inability to work or long-term nursing care.
The primary purpose of any medical negligence claim is recovering monies as compensation. This means that the claim cannot be usefully pursued unless a loss of some kind can be proven. Compensation is awarded based on the damage or harm and loss that the patient suffered. Compensation is not related to the degree of negligence on the part of the provider. Nevertheless, compensation will include the following:
- Medical treatment expenditures
- Future medical expenditures
- Nursing assistance expenditures
- Past wage loss and interest
- Future wage loss
If your medical bills are being covered by Medicare or any private health insurer, the benefits should be repaid out of settlement money that the patient will receive. The same applies for any income payments while you are not able to work due to the said injury. Payments should be repaid if you are receiving compensation for lost earnings or you are unable to earn an income for the entire period that you are suffering from harm as a result of that negligence.
There are specific circumstances when a medical negligence claim is viable. The assessment of the claim viability requires various considerations including the facts, laws, chances of successful outcome, likely costs involved on making a claim, and potential award of financial compensation.
Basically, the patient will have to assess and decide if a claim will be pursued or not. Medical negligence claim attorneys can only advise on the elements that will make the claim a success and whether the investigation will be sensible. These key elements are time limits, law, damages, costs, payment and timing. There are specific questions that must be answered before making a medical negligence claim.
Going back to the question how long will the process take, most cases will take between 2 to 3 years. As such, the extent before a claim may be concluded is long since this depends on the nature of injury. Almost all medical negligence claims are settled on a 'once and for all' approach so it is critical that any settlement considers future problems that the injury may cause.
