When doctors graduate from medical school, they take an oath vowing to never cause harm to a patient. Sadly, not all of them live up to that promise. In fact, about 17,000 doctors are hit with medical malpractice claims every year in the United States. When patients are injured or killed by the reckless actions of a medical professional, they deserve to seek justice.
At Pendleton Law, we’re committed to helping victims of medical malpractice get the compensation they need to pay their medical bills and support themselves on their road to recovery. If you or a loved one have been harmed or fatally injured by a medical professional, one of our medical malpractice attorneys in Chesterfield can help you file a claim.
How Much a Medical Malpractice Claim Is Worth
Determining the value of your medical malpractice claim can be difficult without the assistance of a skilled lawyer. However, if you want to get a rough idea of your claim’s worth, simply add up all the expenses you’ve incurred as a result of your medical malpractice injury.
If your claim is successful, you’ll at least receive enough compensation to cover the sum of your medical expenses and lost income. Calculating subjective losses like diminished quality of life can be difficult, but with the help of a medical malpractice attorney, you’ll be able to get a more accurate estimate.
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Damages You Can Receive From a Medical Malpractice Claim
In order to determine the true value of your claim, your medical malpractice attorney in Chesterfield will find the sum of all the damages you’re eligible to receive. In legal speak, damages refer to the money you’re owed to cover losses related to your injury. Damages can be broken down into two distinct categories.
Economic damages can be requested to compensate for objective losses like medical bills and lost income. Non-economic damages are meant to cover losses that are harder to measure and assign a monetary value to, like diminished quality of life. Economic damages include:
- Past, present and future medical bills
- Lost income
- Reduced earning capacity
Your non-economic damages may include:
- Pain and suffering
- Diminished quality of life
- Mental distress
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A Medical Malpractice Lawyer Can Help You Secure Wrongful Death Damages
If your spouse or family member passed away due to injuries caused by a doctor’s negligence, we are sorry for your loss. We understand the grief and frustration you must be experiencing. To make the following weeks and months a little easier for you, one of our medical malpractice attorneys can help you secure the following wrongful death damages:
- Sorrow and mental anguish
- Loss of the consortium
- Loss of the decedent’s income and benefits
- Medical expenses related to their fatal injury
- Funeral and burial costs
- Punitive damages
While no amount of money can make up for the loss you’re experiencing, these damages will help you support yourself through these troubling times. They’ll also allow you to cover therapy and counseling expenses, and help you give the deceased a proper farewell.
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Proving Negligence in a Chesterfield Medical Malpractice Case
In order to secure you the compensation you need to cover your medical bills and other losses, your Chesterfield medical malpractice attorney will need to prove that your doctor acted negligently. In order to prove medical negligence, your lawyer must complete the following steps:
- Establish duty of care. In order to file a claim against a doctor, your lawyer will need to establish that they owed you a duty of care at the time of your injury. A duty of care refers to the obligation doctors and nurses take on when treating a patient. This obligation requires them to act in the patient’s best interests and not cause them any harm. Duty of care is most often established via patient records.
- Prove failure to fulfill duty. Next, your medical malpractice attorney will need to prove that your doctor failed to uphold the duty of care they owed you. They’ll do this using evidence like medical records, eye-witness statements, and testimony from medical experts.
- Prove causation. Your lawyer will need to prove that your doctor’s failure to fulfill the duty of care directly resulted in your injury.
- Prove damages. Proving that your injury resulted in damages is the easiest step. To prove damages, all your lawyer has to do is provide evidence of the losses you’ve been burdened with. Such evidence can include medical bills and, for damages like lost income, old pay stubs.
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Injuries a Medical Malpractice Lawyer in Chesterfield Can Help You File a Claim for
There are a lot of things that can go wrong when a doctor or nurse acts irresponsibly. Fortunately, our medical malpractice attorneys in Chesterfield have a wealth of experience managing cases for a number of different injuries.
If you’ve experienced any of the following injuries or medical incidents, our lawyers can help you seek compensation:
- Spinal injuries
- Retained surgical object
- Misdiagnosis
- Dangerous mental health treatment
- Incorrect dosage
- Surgical error
- Nursing home abuse
- Failure to diagnose
- Hospital infection
- Disfigurement
- Birth injuries
- Inappropriate treatment
Don’t Wait to Get Started on Your Medical Malpractice Claim
Delaying your medical malpractice claim is one of the worst things you can do. In Virginia, the statute of limitations under Va. Code Ann. § 8.01-243 presents a legal deadline by which you’ll need to file your claim.
Failure to file before the state-imposed deadline will make it extremely hard, if not impossible, for you to receive the compensation you need. An attorney from Christina Pendleton & Associates will help you file your claim on time.
Contact Pendleton Law Group Today
To get started on your claim, contact one of our medical malpractice lawyers in Chesterfield. They’ll learn more about your injury during your free case review. Next, they’ll conduct an investigation into your case and start building your claim. Once your claim is submitted, your attorney will negotiate with insurance companies and work to secure a fair settlement.
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