One area of the law that many West Virginia residents tend to be confused about is medical malpractice. Determining what constitutes medical malpractice can be a bit overwhelming at first. Due to its complex nature, medical malpractice law has many myths surrounding it. Here are a few.
Any mistake a doctor makes can be considered medical malpractice
Physicians are human beings, just like everybody else, and they are prone to making some mistakes. Just because a doctor made a mistake does not mean that it can be considered as a claim for medical malpractice. In order for you to file a medical malpractice claim, you must have suffered some sort of injury, and you must be able to prove that there was fault on the doctor’s part.
Injuries must be physical
The reality is that injuries do not always occur in a physical sense. Sometimes medical malpractice claims may be for the emotional distress of the patient. One example of this might be when a doctor or other medical professional withholds information or lies to the patient. Whenever a doctor breaches their ethical duty, a patient may sue for medical malpractice even if their injuries are solely emotional and not physical.
There are cap limits on how much you can win
When it comes to medical malpractice claims, you may have heard that there is a maximum amount of money that you can win. While this does have some truth to it, it’s not necessarily the case. There are states that don’t have any sort of cap limits on what you can be awarded. Unfortunately, West Virginia isn’t one of them. There is a $250,000 limit on non-economic compensatory damages. If wrongful death or catastrophic injury is involved, that limit is increased to $500,000.
Suffering injuries due to a medical professional’s breach of their duty can make you eligible to bring a medical malpractice lawsuit. Hopefully, some of the myths that you had in your mind about medical malpractice cases have been dispelled. When you have questions regarding this type of case, is it a good idea to speak to a legal representative so that you can get the correct answers.
