If you suspect that you were the victim of surgical errors or medical malpractice, you may be able to file a claim against the doctor or hospital are your best bet for recompense. You might wonder how much compensation you would get if you settle your claim against the doctor or hospital. There is not one answer for all cases, as the facts will differ from one claim to another, but there are factors that will affect the amount you can expect to receive.

Proof for Your Case

If you cannot prove all the required elements of your claim, you will not recover damages for your losses. A medical malpractice attorney will collect the evidence to build your case that:

  • You had a doctor-patient relationship with the person who harmed you.
  • The doctor failed to meet the standard of care of the local medical community.
  • As a result of the doctor’s failure to perform at the local standard of care, you suffered harm.

Determining the Cost of Your Damages

We explore the economic costs you suffered, such as medical expenses and lost wages. We add to this number the value of how the harm has impacted your life. If you are, for example, unable to work in the future because of the adverse outcome of your medical treatment, you will miss out on that income, possibly for years to come.

You might also need assistance with the tasks of daily living, such as:

  • Mobility
  • Eating
  • Bathing
  • Handling your finances

In addition to these financial losses, you might get compensation for your pain and suffering and your loss of enjoyment of life. We may also be able to benefit your family with some recompense.

Your loved ones might have a claim for:

  • Loss of consortium: how the injury might have affected your intimate relationships
  • Loss of support: the income with which you helped to support your family
  • Loss of services: the services you provided for the benefit of the family, such as cooking, cleaning, mowing the lawn, and managing the finances

Things That Reduce the Amount of Your Medical Malpractice Settlement

After we prove that you were the victim of medical malpractice and established the amount of your claim, the doctor’s defense attorney will try to reduce the amount of your damages.

There are two main arguments they will use in an attempt to cut your losses:

  • Contributory fault– If you were partially at fault, the law could reduce the amount of your damages in proportion to the amount of your negligence. Since Florida is a pure comparative fault state, you can still get a financial recovery as long as the doctor was also negligent.
  • Statutory limits on medical malpractice awards– Florida has a law on the books that puts a cap on the amount of damages a person can receive in a medical malpractice action, but this law is in question. The Florida Supreme Court held these damage limits to be arbitrary and unconstitutional in a 2017 case. The issue is far from settled, so we will continue to monitor developments on this issue of Florida law.

If you think that you might be the victim of medical malpractice, please call the Montero Law Center at 954-767-6500, and we will schedule your no-cost consultation and case evaluation.