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Medical malpractice cases typically involve permanent injuries that affect patients’ well-being and result in long-term physical, financial, and emotional damage. A medical treatment or procedure with an adverse outcome can catch anyone off guard. While some individuals may wish to hold their healthcare providers responsible for these adverse outcomes, others may hesitate due to fear, guilt, or misunderstandings about medical malpractice lawsuits.
If either situation is relatable, you’re not alone. It’s challenging enough dealing with injuries from a surgical error, misdiagnosis, or dosing mistake, not to mention a legal battle. That’s why Bell Legal Group is here to help—our medical malpractice attorneys understand how to file claims to accurately reflect your immediate and long-term effects of catastrophic medical errors.
Defining Catastrophic Medical Injuries
An injury is considered catastrophic when it results in permanent or long-term disability, disfigurement, or harm. The damage to you or your loved one typically determines whether an injury qualifies as a catastrophic. Patients harmed by surgical errors, dosing mistakes, or birthing injuries often require long-term treatment or lifelong accommodations. When a healthcare provider’s action or omission caused a catastrophic injury, a lawsuit may be necessary to help you and your family.
Physical Injuries Due to Medical Errors
Physical injuries are often the most obvious long-term effects of catastrophic medical errors. Physical injuries could involve paralysis, brain trauma, amputations, and other disabling symptoms that alter a person’s physical appearance, abilities, and quality of life.
After surviving a life-threatening medical error, your relief may supersede your interest in legal action. But what if the effects of catastrophic medical errors continue long-term? Infections can lead to lifelong syndromes, existing conditions may be exacerbated, and physical limitations may become more burdensome than you originally anticipated. Any of these impacts should be carefully considered when calculating damages for medical errors. Bell Legal Group will gather medical records, before-and-after videos and photos, and other evidence showing the impact your injuries have made on you or your loved one’s life.
Financial Burdens of Catastrophic Adverse Events
A catastrophic injury may require frequent medical care and living accommodations, at least while you heal, if not long-term. Adapting your home for accessibility is a large financial undertaking, and seemingly nominal out-of-pocket expenses for medical care add up quickly. These costs don’t factor in upcoming expenses. If you don’t understand which medical malpractice damages you are eligible to recover, such as hospital stays, medical bills, and rehabilitation fees, a lawyer advocating for you does. At Bell Legal Group we will collect all necessary documentation to show any financial burdens caused by the catastrophic adverse event.
Our attorneys understand the repercussions a catastrophic medical injury causes and will ensure all potential damages are considered. When calculating the financial repercussions of medical catastrophes, we’ll examine damages such as:
- Long-Term and Short-Term Medical Expenses – Prescriptions, followup visits and procedures, physical therapy, and mental health resources and counseling
- Living Modifications – Home and vehicle modifications, like a wheelchair ramp and accessibility van; safety controls, grab bars, a chair lift, and assistive technology; if required, assisted living
- Legal and Administrative Costs – Representation and filings for disability benefits, powers of attorney, and other legal matters
- Loss of Employment – Lost wages, diminished earning power
Emotional Impacts of Permanent Medical Injuries
A medical malpractice error that causes a lasting injury, disfigurement, or disability impacts your emotional health and relationships. Damages for medical malpractice should account for any losses of consortium or loss of enjoyment of life from depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
Lean on the attorneys at Bell Legal to help! We’ll conduct interviews and gather testimonies to evaluate the harm caused by the medical malpractice error and help you seek damages that accurately address your emotional and mental health. We’ll examine damages such as:
- Pain and Suffering – Physical pain, discomfort, and emotional distress caused by the injury and its aftermath
- Loss of Enjoyment of Life – The inability to participate in activities you once enjoyed
- Loss of Consortium – If your injury has negatively impacted your relationship with your spouse
Calculating Damages From Medical Mistakes
Some medical malpractice damages may be easier to calculate than others, but any permanent or long-term physical limitations, financial burdens, negative emotions, grief, and shame you’re experiencing after a catastrophic injury deserve to be acknowledged.
That’s where we step in. Our attorneys will carefully investigate all potential damages to ensure your claim is appropriate. We’ll provide evidence of your harm, including medical reports, hospital and rehab invoices, personal testimonies, photographs, and videos, to support the physical, financial, or emotional burdens you’ve experienced.
Healthcare providers who fail to follow established standards of care should be held accountable for causing serious, life-altering injuries. Seeking counsel when you or a loved one received care that is below the standard is your choice as a patient in South Carolina. Let the team at Bell Legal Group® help you and get you on a path toward rehabilitation.