If you are injured due to a medical provider’s negligence, you are entitled to be properly compensated for financial, physical, and emotional harm. The best way to make sure that you receive the best medical malpractice compensation is to work with an experienced legal team that knows how to get you the compensation you deserve.
There are several different types of compensation available in Ohio. The following essential guide will help you understand the different types of medical malpractice compensation so that you can have a better idea of what to expect from your own personal case.
Compensatory Damages: Economic vs Noneconomic
Compensatory damages are damages which compensate you for an injury. These types of damages can be punitive damages--which are damages that punish a defendant for their conduct--or non-punitive damages, which simply compensate you (the plaintiff) without necessarily punishing another party or organization.
The two types of compensatory damages are economic damages and noneconomic damages.
Economic damages are damages intended to compensate for money that has either been lost or spent due to the injury. Common types of economic damage include: wages lost due to the injury, temporarily or in the future; medical bills incurred due to the injury; costs for medication and medical equipment; and similar expenses.
Noneconomic damages are damages which are compensation for: pain and suffering, appearance disfigurement, mental suffering and loss of quality of life.
Noneconomic Damages: Limitations to Consider
Noneconomic damages are considered harder to quantify than economic damages because they cannot be easily translated into a financial amount. For economic damages, it is easy to determine compensation due to the presence of medical bills, receipts, wage slips, and so on. Noneconomic damages, on the other hand, do not come with receipts or easy ways to translate them into a numerical figure. So figuring for these noneconomic damages is a complex and harder to prove.
In Ohio, noneconomic damages are limited depending on the type of damage incurred. For instance, if you have suffered the loss of use in one of your limbs or disfigurement or other permanent injury, your noneconomic compensation will be higher than someone who is seeking compensation for solely emotional injuries.
Final Thoughts
If you have suffered due to medical malpractice and you want compensation, contact an experienced legal team today. They will be able to help you better understand the types of damages you have suffered, the type of compensation you may be owed, and the overall best course of action to receive your compensation.
It’s best to contact an attorney as soon as possible. The sooner a legal team will be able to advise you, the better prepared they will be to fight for you.
For more information, or for a complimentary consultation to discuss your case, contact the experienced legal team of Seaman and Associates today.