Our last blog discussed the thousands of Americans that suffer injuries every year from medical malpractice. Unfortunately, with that many preventable injuries and deaths, only a small minority of victims pursue a claim against the responsible health care worker. Despite what proponents of tort reform might say, medical malpractice claims in America are actually rare. Adjusting for inflation, medical malpractice lawsuits are down by 45 percent since 2000, according to the National Center for State Courts (NCSC).
The NSCS data showed that rarely does any one state exceed a few hundred medical malpractice cases over a one-year period. When a victim of medical error does not pursue a valid claim, they lose their opportunity to recover money for their medical expenses. Deaths and injuries occur from various acts of medical error, including:
· Unnecessary surgery
· Medication errors
· Errors in hospitals
· Infections in hospitals
In Louisiana, there is a damages cap of $500,000 damages cap for economic and non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. The legislature has never adjusted the cap for inflation since the cap inception in 1975.
The Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) says that medical malpractice is the third leading cause of death in the United States. Only heart disease and cancer cause more deaths than medical errors.
Harrell & Nowak, L.L.C. – New Orleans injury lawyers