Patients who experience severe injuries due to medical errors may experience long-term or deadly consequences. Damages from a medical malpractice-related injury or complication can range from hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars when you factor in medical costs, lost wages, and emotional effects.
Thankfully, Pennsylvania has victim-friendly tort laws. They give persons damaged by the actions of others a legal way to recoup their losses. Victims are entitled to several forms of damages and the total amount to which they are legally entitled. We review some of the fundamental losses Pennsylvania considers compensable in a medical negligence case below.
Get in touch with Cherry Hill, NJ personal injury attorneys if you want information or an estimate of your claim.
“Which damage is meant by “damages”?
Damages are monetary awards that the law imposes to compensate for the losses and injuries a victim suffers due to another’s violation of duty. In other words, damages are the sum of money you receive as compensation for your injury.
The damages awarded in a medical malpractice case may be significantly higher than in civil trials. A medical negligence case may involve one of two major categories of damages.
- Real damages, also known as compensatory damages, are given to victims as recompense for their actual losses or injuries. Non-economic damages and economic damages are two subcategories of compensatory damages.
- Punitive – Pennsylvania allows victims to get punitive damages, although not all states do. Punitive damages are given to victims in lieu of actual monetary compensation for their losses to hold offenders accountable for severe crimes and deter them from repeating them in the future. Punitive damages are not always awarded in cases of medical negligence. If punitive damage awards are likely in your case, your attorney will be able to determine this.
How much money can I get? Is there a cap?
The maximum amount that victims of medical misconduct can be awarded in some states. In Pennsylvania, this isn’t the case. The amount of compensatory damages you may be awarded is not restricted by state law in this state. The legal concept of “being made whole” allows you to recover your losses entirely.
But on occasion, particularly when awarding punitive damages, the courts could place a cap on your injuries. Although no law in Pennsylvania currently establishes a cap on punitive damages (such caps have previously been rejected), the courts have the power to lower an award if they find it excessively expensive.
