What Is The Average Settlement For Medical Malpractice Injury In Texas?

The majority of medical malpractice claims can be classified into five groups:

• Diagnostic Errors

Diagnostic malpractice is frequently the result of physician neglect, including failure to obtain adequate patient histories or to spend sufficient time with patients.

• Treatment Omissions And Follow-up Failures 

Medical malpractice can also result from treatment omissions and follow-up failures, where healthcare professionals neglect to order necessary diagnostic tests, review test results, and follow up with patients. This may occur due to busy schedules or oversight, allowing underlying conditions to worsen over time.

• Surgical And Anesthesia Errors

Mistakes made during surgery or with anesthesia can lead to medical malpractice claims. Administering medication incorrectly during preparation for surgery can cause heart failure or brain damage. Anesthesiologists who are negligent may cause trachea damage or mental disabilities in patients. Additionally, surgeons who are overworked may make mistakes such as operating on the wrong patient, the wrong body part, or leaving surgical equipment inside patients, which can lead to medical malpractice claims.

• Birth And Prenatal Mistakes

Mistakes made during pregnancy and childbirth can result in serious consequences for both the mother and child. Some of the common errors include brain injuries caused by lack of oxygen during birth, failure to address umbilical cord compression, missed genetic conditions during ultrasounds, and failure to identify symptoms of gestational diabetes and preeclampsia. These mistakes can result in severe and even fatal conditions for both the mother and the fetus.

• Prescription Drug And Medical Device Injuries

Medical malpractice claims can also stem from prescription drug and medical device injuries. In such cases, patients may seek legal recourse under product liability law. Defective medical hardware and implants that require surgical implantation may malfunction due to manufacturing defects or improper placement. Similarly, prescription drugs may cause serious harm and illness due to dosage errors or the drug company’s failure to warn about potential side effects.

The extent of damages caused by medical malpractice may vary. Some cases may only cause short-term harm, such as prescribing medications that result in an allergic reaction that doctors can treat promptly. On the other hand, some cases may lead to prolonged pain and suffering caused by years of misdiagnosed or mistreated medical conditions. The following types of cases can be classified based on their average settlement amounts.

Determining Your Special Damages

This includes financial losses that can be easily calculated, such as lost earnings, medical expenses, loss of earning capacity, and other financial losses that can be quantified.

Your medical expenses encompass all the bills that you have accrued as a result of your injuries, including any potential future medical costs that you may incur. Future medical expenses can be quite substantial in medical malpractice cases.

Your lost earnings and loss of earning capacity refer to the earnings you have forfeited or will forfeit due to the medical malpractice incident that caused your injuries. This includes any employment benefits that you may have lost, such as paid time off, health insurance, and contributions to your pension plan, among others. Calculating your past lost wages is straightforward, as it simply involves adding up all the earnings and benefits that you missed out on as a result of your injury.

Calculating your future lost earnings and earning capacity, however, can be more complicated. Your lawyer will likely need to enlist the assistance of a financial expert to accurately present these figures in a way that the jury can comprehend. For instance, suppose you were making $50,000 per year prior to the medical malpractice incident, but you were unable to make a full recovery and could only work part-time, earning $25,000 per year. In that case, your estimated loss of earning capacity would be $25,000 per year for the remainder of your work-life expectancy. Work-life expectancy is a measure based on federal statistics of the number of years a worker is likely to continue working based on factors such as age. Calculating the worth of $25,000 yearly in the future can be more challenging.

Determining Your General Damages

To reiterate, it can be difficult to calculate pain and suffering or general damages in a medical malpractice case. A chart or formula cannot accurately quantify the amount of mental and physical suffering experienced by the patient. Therefore, judges typically ask the jury to use their common sense and empathize with the injured party to determine an appropriate award.

Pain and suffering damages encompass various forms of mental and physical anguish, such as the pain from physical injuries, permanent disabilities or scarring, emotional distress, mental anguish, and loss of life enjoyment. Mental pain and suffering can also include conditions like depression, mood swings, anger, fatigue, sleep problems, sexual dysfunction, and PTSD.

It’s crucial not to underestimate the value of intangible losses, as they can make up a significant portion of a medical malpractice settlement or award. It’s important to discuss all of the impacts of your injuries with your lawyer, so they can present the associated losses to the insurance company effectively.