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As a Memphis, Tennessee medical malpractice lawyer with the ability to also investigate claims in Mississippi and Arkansas, we wanted to provide this information to the public.
Arkansas Medical Malpractice Lawsuit
On May 16, 2013, an Arkansas medical malpractice jury found a nursing home in Faulkner County negligent in the treatment and care of a woman resident. The jury returned a unanimous verdict against the nursing home after it found that the nursing home’s staff violated the resident’s rights by not transferring her to a hospital emergency room when she was in extreme abdominal pain. The resident died April 7, 2008. The jury set damages for physical and mental pain and suffering of the resident at $5.2 million.
In another Arkansas medical malpractice lawsuit, the jury, holding Greenbriar Nursing and Rehabilitation Center guilty of failing to provide timely emergency care to a patient, ordered it to pay $5.2 million in June 2013.
These are just a few examples of the increasing number of medical malpractice and negligence cases in Arkansas, where either the hospital facility or the doctor and his staff are found to be negligent in fulfilling their duties toward their patients.
Medical Malpractice Lawsuit: How to Claim Damages
Medical malpractice occurs when a health care provider falls below the governing standard of care, causing physical, emotional loss to the patient. In Arkansas, a plaintiff can claim compensation for physical, economic, and non-economic damages.
- Physical losses include compensation for any injury, disease, disability, or suffering caused due to medical negligence.
- Economic damages include any financial losses borne by the plaintiff due to medical negligence, such as loss of wages and medical expenses.
- Non-economic damages include mental anguish and emotional suffering, which may impact the plaintiff’s family life.
- Punitive damages may be sought to hold the defendant guilty and punish them and prevent any such incidents of medical malpractice.
As a plaintiff, the most common types of compensations you may claim include:
- Punitive damages
- Compensation for disability, physical injury or loss
- Reimbursement of medical expenses
- Compensation for emotional trauma or anguish
- Compensation for loss of employment
The jury takes many factors into consideration to determine the amount of compensation for the plaintiff, including extent of error and injury.
In Arkansas, the injured patient or their relatives can sue a licensed health care provider, including medical facility, doctors, psychotherapists or counselors, for:
- Avoidable delay in the treatment for a diagnosed medical condition
- Failure to provide standard treatment
- Failure to diagnose a medical condition
- Misdiagnosis of a disease or medical condition
In Arkansas, a plaintiff can claim punitive damages for up to $250,000, or three times the actual damages. Awards may be reduced by payments from collateral sources for medical malpractice lawsuits in the state of Arkansas. In the event of death of the plaintiff, unpaid installments can be reduced for future pain and suffering.
In medical malpractice cases, where there is more than one defendant, each defendant is liable to pay damages to the plaintiff in proportion to their own fault, excluding injury from intentional acts. Under Arkansas law, there is a limited time frame to file a claim. The medical malpractice lawsuits must be initiated within 2 years from the date the plaintiff suffered injury. Arbitration and dispute resolution are encouraged as a viable method of resolving Arkansas medical malpractice lawsuits.
A medical malpractice attorney can help you determine if a certain action amounts to a medical negligence claim.
More on Medical Malpractice
Medical malpractice is negligent conduct by a health care provider that causes injury or death to a patient. It is more appropriately called “medical negligence” because the use of the word “malpractice” often connotes incompetence or a lack of professionalism. An otherwise competent health care provider may negligently injure another, just like an otherwise driver can negligently change lanes and hit another vehicle. The fact that a person is negligent does not mean that he or she is incompetent; it only means that at the time of that event, he or she did not act in keeping with the standard of conduct society expects.
There are a number of types of claims for medical malpractice in Tennessee, Mississippi or Arkansas Misdiagnosis of cancer, Failure to diagnose heart conditions, Surgical errors, Orthopedic malpractice, Emergency room errors, Anesthesia and pharmaceutical malpractice, Failure to Transfer a Patient to Another Facility, Early Discharge, Birth injuries, Children’s injuries, Spinal cord injuries, Nursing home injuries, Plastic surgery injuries, Lasik surgery, Prescription errors and Reactions to prescription drugs.
If you or a loved one in Tennessee, Mississippi or Arkansas believes you are the victim of medical malpractice and have sustained an injury to yourself or your child, infant, parent or loved one, please contact us today.
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