NASHVILLE MEDICAL MALPRACTICE ATTORNEYS

If you or a loved one suffered harm because of a mistake, wrongful action, or lack of action by a doctor or healthcare provider, you could have grounds for a medical malpractice lawsuit. Before you take action, though, you should be aware of a couple of things.

• You only have one year after you suffered injury to file a medical malpractice claim in Tennessee.
• Tennessee sets limits on the damages you can recover.
• Your claim requires a “certificate of good faith.”

While you can still recover compensation, you must act fast to preserve your right to do so. You may want to hire a lawyer to ensure you meet all deadlines and understand the laws associated with filing a malpractice claim. The Nashville medical malpractice lawyers at Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers have a long track record of recovering damages for our injured clients. We offer a free consultation and want to put our extensive resources to work for you.

To schedule an appointment, call our office at 800-800-4600.

The Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers team has over 100 years of combined experience recovering compensation for clients injured by medical malpractice. We understand the elements of a successful claim and can put our knowledge and resources to work for you.

For your claim to have the highest chance of success, it needs to demonstrate four things:

• There was a valid doctor-patient relationship;
• The medical provider breached the standard of care;
• Because of the breach, you suffered an injury or illness;
• Your injury or illness caused you to incur damages.

Valid Doctor-Patient Relationship

For a doctor or healthcare provider to be liable for malpractice, they must have a duty of care to the patient. For instance, if someone who happens to be a doctor but is not your treating physician gives you advice in an informal setting, and you take their advice and suffer harm, you might not have grounds for a malpractice lawsuit, as no doctor – patient relationship existed.

Breach of Standard of Care

Once we have established a valid doctor-patient relationship, we must show that the doctor violated his industry’s standard of care.

To do this, we use the “reasonable person” standard. This states that if another doctor, acting reasonably, would have provided a higher level of care which may have prevented you from suffering harm, your doctor may have breached the standard of care.

To establish this breach, we must include a “Certificate of Good Faith” that confirms we have discussed your case with expert witnesses who can attest to its validity.

Injury to Patient

Next, we need to connect your doctor’s failure with a specific injury you or your loved one suffered. For instance, if your doctor failed to consider your drug allergies before writing you a prescription, we can show how the prescribed drug led to an allergic reaction that caused you to suffer harm.

Damages

Last, we must show the specific economic and noneconomic damages you suffered because of your injury. Your damages determine the compensation you can recover. They can be economic damages, which refer to actual financial losses, or noneconomic damages, which refer to more subjective losses that do not have a specific dollar value.

The medical malpractice attorneys at Hughes & Coleman Injury Lawyers will use our resources to figure out the full scope of damages you have suffered, including the ones that might not be obvious or readily apparent. 

Note: Tennessee limits noneconomic damages to $750,000 per plaintiff ($1 million for catastrophic injuries). This limit does not apply if the defendant attempted to injure you, destroyed or falsified records in an attempt to hide the mistake or injury, or acted under the influence of alcohol or drugs.

Punitive Damages

In some cases, victims of medical malpractice may be entitled to punitive damages. Courts award these damages to punish the defendant for acting “maliciously, intentionally, fraudulently or recklessly.”

For example, if the medical provider injured you and then destroyed records in an attempt to conceal that injury, you may have a case for punitive damages.

Note: Tennessee limits punitive damages to $500,000 or two times the amount of compensatory damages, whichever is greater. This limit does not apply if the defendant engaged in the same exempt actions mentioned in regard to the noneconomic damages cap.

Medical malpractice claims have many unique characteristics that set them apart from most other personal injury lawsuits. Perhaps the most significant is that they often involve substantial sums of money.

According to CBS News, the average payout for a successful medical malpractice claim in 2014 was more than $350,000. Unfortunately, the rate of successful claims is falling, making it even more important to choose a lawyer who knows how best to recover compensation for their clients.

To obtain the damages to which you are entitled, we must itemize those damages and establish a strong connection between them and the doctor or provider’s actions.

Recoverable Damages in a Medical Malpractice Claim

Our past medical malpractice clients have won judgments and settlements that have included both economic and noneconomic damages. Economic damages, which involve specific financial loss, may involve the following:

• Medical bills
• Lost wages
• Reduced earning capacity
• Prescription drugs
• Home modifications (e.g., wheelchair ramps, handrails)
• Emergency transportation

Noneconomic damages, which are subjective losses that do not involve actual monetary expenses, include the following:

• Pain and suffering
• Emotional anguish
• Loss of enjoyment of life
• Loss of consortium
• Scarring and disfigurement