Discovering you’ve been harmed by the negligence of a medical provider that you trusted with your health can be shocking and devastating. If this has happened to you, you may be entitled to compensation for your losses through a medical malpractice claim.
A malpractice settlement could resolve your medical malpractice claim and provide financial relief, but how often do medical malpractice claims settle? Keep reading to learn more from The Law Offices of Dr. Michael J. Wilson, M.D., J.D. & Associates.
For personalized legal advice, call or contact us to discuss the details of your claim with an experienced D.C. medical malpractice lawyer. We’ll listen to your story and develop a strategy to pursue a full and fair medical malpractice settlement for you.
Contents
- What Is the Average Payout for Medical Negligence?
- How Long Does a Malpractice Lawsuit Take to Resolve?
- How Hard Is It to Win a Malpractice Lawsuit?
- What Is the Most Common Reason for Malpractice?
- What Is The Statute of Limitation for a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in D.C.?
- Contact a D.C. Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
What Is the Average Payout for Medical Negligence?
In a medical negligence claim, you could recover financial compensation for a wide range of expenses and losses associated with the negligent care. Compensation in a malpractice claim can include money for:
- Medical costs incurred to treat the harm inflicted by the provider’s negligent care
- Lost wages, if the patient had to miss time from work due to their injury(s)
- Lost earning potential, if the malpractice resulted in permanent disabilities
- Physical pain and suffering
- Emotional distress or trauma
- Reduced life expectancy
- Lost quality of life due to scarring, disfigurement, or physical limitations caused by the malpractice
While you can recover compensation for financial losses like bills, co-pays, and prescription medications, the compensation you could be paid for future financial losses and other intangible harm that you suffered depends on the severity of the medical negligence. In general, the more severe your injuries, the larger the payout you might receive from the responsible parties and their insurers.
How Long Does a Malpractice Lawsuit Take to Resolve?
It can be challenging to predict how long your medical malpractice lawsuit will take. In cases where the providers accept medical malpractice liability and the patient’s injuries have been resolved, the parties might settle in a few months. But when a patient has sustained significant expenses or the treating provider denies liability, it could take longer. This is especially true of medical malpractice cases that go to trial.
Many factors can affect the length of a medical malpractice lawsuit, including:
- The complexity of your medical condition and the procedures used in your care
- Whether your claim involves new or complex legal issues
- The number of potentially liable parties in your case
- The number of other witnesses needed, including medical experts
- The severity of the harm or injury that you suffered
- Whether you still need treatment for the adverse effects of the malpractice
A medical malpractice attorney cannot guarantee how long your case will take or promise you specific results. However, the attorney will work to reach a successful resolution for you as quickly as possible.
How Hard Is It to Win a Malpractice Lawsuit?
Medical malpractice lawsuits are among the most complex personal injury claims. You and your lawyer will need to show that the medical provider responsible for your injuries failed to treat you in accordance with the accepted standard of care. That means carefully reviewing your medical records to find evidence of substandard care.
In most cases, your medical malpractice attorney will need to consult with a medical expert (usually another practitioner in the same specialty as your provider) for an opinion about what constitutes the standard of care in your case. This expert can help build an argument about how your provider’s actions failed to comply with that standard and how that failure harmed you.
What Is the Most Common Reason for Malpractice?
Healthcare providers can make many kinds of mistakes that harm or injure patients. However, some types of medical malpractice occur more frequently than others, including:
- Delayed diagnosis/misdiagnosis: This happens when a physician fails to diagnose a patient’s medical problem or makes an incorrect diagnosis. A delayed diagnosis prevents the patient from receiving timely treatment, which could cause the condition to worsen and put their life at risk. Misdiagnosis means that a patient receives no treatment or receives treatment for a health condition they don’t have.
- Hospital-acquired infections: Sepsis, urinary tract infections, pneumonia, skin infections, and surgical-site infections may result from unsanitary equipment and inadequate sterilization protocols in medical facilities.
- Birth injuries: Infants can suffer injuries due to complications before, during, or shortly after delivery. Birth injuries can leave children with significant or even permanent physical and cognitive disabilities.
- Medication errors: Providers can make errors in patients’ medication by failing to obtain complete medical histories that would contraindicate certain medications, miscalculating dosages, incorrectly filling out prescription orders, or failing to confirm patient identities when administering medications.
- Surgical errors: The most frequent surgical errors include performing the wrong surgical procedure or the correct procedure on the wrong body part, accidentally puncturing tissues during surgery, and leaving equipment or material inside a patient. Surgical errors usually require patients to undergo additional procedures to correct the damage.
What Is The Statute of Limitation for a Medical Malpractice Lawsuit in D.C.?
The statute of limitations for a medical malpractice lawsuit in Washington, DC is 3 years. You must file your lawsuit within that three-year time frame or you will lose your opportunity to have your case heard in court. The sooner you begin your lawsuit, the better. There is a large amount of research that needs to be done before going to trial. So, don’t delay!
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Contact a D.C. Medical Malpractice Lawyer Today
If you’ve experienced negligent or substandard medical care, turn to The Law Offices of Dr. Michael J. Wilson, M.D., J.D. & Associates. For more than three decades, Dr. Wilson has represented the rights and interests of medical malpractice victims in the D.C. area and Maryland.
Dr. Wilson holds both medical and legal degrees from Georgetown University. He’s secured over $100 million in settlements and verdicts for his clients. With both medical training and extensive experience in medical malpractice law, Dr. Wilson has secured over $100 million in settlements and verdicts for his clients. He knows what it takes to evaluate your case and advise on the best course of action.
Don’t wait to get started on your legal case. Call or contact us now for your free case review.
Dr. Michael M. Wilson is an attorney and a physician who earned his undergraduate degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and his legal and medical degrees from Georgetown University. He has focused in the area of medical malpractice for more than three decades and secured more than $100 million in settlements and verdicts on behalf of clients throughout the country. He is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and New York as well as the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Supreme Court. He is listed in America’s Top 100 High Stakes Litigators.
