In California, patients have the right to seek compensation for all the injuries and damages caused to them as a result of negligence of the doctor. Financial awards given to the patient’s for sustaining injuries is known as damages.
Be it orthopedic malpractices or other medical negligence issues, a patient can claim both for economic and non-economic damages. However, how will you calculate these damages? To do this, you need to get in touch with an orthopedic expert witness through a reliable attorney. These expert witnesses are called upon by the attorneys to calculate the damages. In this context, you’ll know what economic and non-economic damages are.
Economic damages:
These are referred to as monetary damages or tangible losses which the patient has sustained. These damages are more concrete because they can be quantified and calculated. One of the most important kinds of economic damage is the medical expenses. It includes the treatments needed by the patient, or the future medical costs. Secondly, the patient might have lost their income due to their inability to work or join office. Lost wages are another kind of monetary damages.
Non-economic damages–
As compared to economic damages, non-economic damages are subjective in nature. They cannot be quantified. These damages are related to harm which cannot be documented. Some of the examples include- loss of consortium, pain and suffering, and disability or loss of life enjoyment.
While monetary rewards are intended for restoring the patient’s life, non-monetary damages are given to patients for sustaining injury, pain, emotional distress, and other similar things.
Therefore, patients have right to claim compensation for all the damages caused to them. However, to exercise these rights, you’ll need a professional help. If you’ve been a victim of medical negligence, you should immediately get in touch with an attorney because they have the legal right to seek guidance from an expert witness. Without the help of an orthopedic expert witness, it becomes difficult to quantify the damages. The expert witness will go through the case in detail and try to ascertain that there has been a malpractice. Once malpractice is determined, the lawyer will file a lawsuit against the medical professional.
Remember, you should always get timely help because there is only 1 year time limit within which you have to file the lawsuit. This is known as the statute of limitations. If you don’t meet this deadline, you’ll lose your compensational rights. If you want to settle with the highest amount of claims, you need to immediately get in touch with a professional without any delay. Apart from calculating damages, these experts can also provide a number of services which are integral to malpractice lawsuits. It includes- preparing written documents based on case facts, providing neutral opinions on matters falling with their scope of expertise, and also performing Independent Medical Examination to check the health condition of the patient. Moreover, they are also called upon to provide depositions services at court rooms, if required.
