Over the last several decades, state legislatures around the country – influenced by powerful forces in the medical and insurance industry – have taken actions to severely curtail the amount of financial damages that victims of medical malpractice can recover in lawsuits against the medical professionals, hospitals, and other entities that failed to take proper care in treating patients, injuring those patients. Even a state like California, typically friendly towards injury victims, limited non-compensatory damages to $250,000, a number that has not budged since the 1970s. Because medical malpractice cases can be quite complex and expensive to bring (and medical malpractice attorneys generally only recover a portion of winnings), this means fewer attorneys can bring such cases. This is not the case in New Jersey, however, which continues to honor the rights and needs of medical malpractice victims by allowing them greater freedom in recovering for their losses.
At Judd Shaw Injury Law™, our attorneys represent victims of medical malpractice, using all available legal strategies and investigative techniques to win them the maximum amount of damages they are owed through either a settlement or verdict.
Compensatory Damages for Medical Malpractice in New Jersey
Compensatory damages are those financial damages that reimburse a victim for the financial losses they have directly suffered as a result of a physician’s or other medical professionals lack of care. In New Jersey, victims can seek the full cost of all medical bills they will incur over their lifetime as a result of medical malpractice as well as their loss of income from both lost wages and reduced income earning potential due to their injuries.
Pain and Suffering Damages for Medical Malpractice in New Jersey
Medical malpractice victims often suffer serious emotional losses as a result of their injuries and the effect that those injuries have on their life, for example the ability of the victim to relate to a spouse or children. Unlike other states which put strict limits on how much damages a victim can recover for pain and suffering and similar emotional damages, New Jersey has put no caps on what a victim can financially recover for these damages.
Punitive Damages for Medical Malpractice in New Jersey
As the name implies, punitive damages are put in place to punish wrongdoers for their actions when a court believes doing so will prevent and deter health care professionals and entities from taking reckless actions which endanger the health and lives of patients.
Again, while many states have done away with punitive damages altogether in medical malpractice cases, New Jersey takes a strong pro-victim approach to punitive damages. When a healthcare professional’s actions that injure a patient are extraordinary reckless, the patient may recover either up to $350,000 or five times the amount of compensatory damages, whichever is greater.
Speak With the NJ Medical Malpractice Attorneys at Judd Shaw Injury Law™ Regarding Your Injuries
The experienced medical malpractice attorneys at Judd Shaw Injury Law™ have won over $90 million in compensation for our clients through settlements and verdicts, and we are here to stand by your side as your allies and champions in winning the recovery you deserve from all potential defendants in your New Jersey medical malpractice case. Contact us today to speak to a medical malpractice attorney who can listen to your concerns and guide you towards your best options for financial recovery.
