Approximately how much will you get back from a lawsuit on a doctor that gave you the wrong information?

Question

if a doctor gives you incorrect information on a test and gives you the test results out of order. and it causes stress and depression what is the average amount from a settlement.

Answer 1

You would have to prove a lot of stress and depression. Find a sleazy lawyer who specializes in these cases.

The amount you get depends on your state. Some insurance companies and courts would offer 5-10thousand dollars for this. Also, if you sue, don't count on another doctor seeing you.

Answer 2

All medical malpractice cases must have evidence establishing that the doctor deviated from an established standard of care. You must also prove that the deviation from the standard care is the cause of your damages as well as the damages. Each element has to be established by the testimony of other doctors willing to testify. It is difficult to get any kind of settlement when the insurance company knows that it is going to cost you in the neighborhood of 25 to 50k to assemble these experts and present them at trial. Further, the cost of the experts is typically borne by the plaintiff in the lawsuit. Any case with damages in the neighborhood of 10k is not worth pursuing. If you can get a doctor to give a statement addressing the issues I indicated have to be addressed, you can always try to send this to the doctor's insurance carrier and hope for the best. You may want to explore whether the doctor misread the test results or was in fact given false test results. The blame may lie with the testing company. It may also be the case that a false result occurs occasionally due to shortcomings in the test and no deviation occured.

Answer 3

Tough case to prove - other than your word, you will need some hard evidence that the wrong information was responsible for damage so serious that compensation is called for.

And simply giving the wrong information may not be enough - you may need to additionally establish negligence on the part of the physician, a pattern of negligence, disregard for procedure, something of that nature.

Based on the little information you have laid out here, I doubt a serious lawyer would be interested. Most doctors have insurance programs and insurance companies have lawyers who love to tie this kind of case up in court for years - can you afford to pay your lawyer for a long, long process?

I suspect this is a no-starter.

Answer 4

You will have to prove negligence on the part of the doctor and more importantly, prove damages on your end. Either way you need to be careful. Many states now have laws concerning "nuisance" lawsuits and if you don't prevail in a court of law, you could be responsible for court costs and legal costs for the defense. Your best course of action may simply be to switch doctors and get on with your life. People make mistakes. As long as you didn't suffer permanent physical damage, life goes on.

Answer 5

You will never win a case like that. Doctors are humans and make mistakes. Unless you can prove physical damages, your suit would be tossed out of court very quickly.

People are so quick to try and find fault so they can have personal gain from another person. It's the scenario you describe that keeps our judicial system filled with garbage and real criminals walk.

Answer 6

You will have to prove this first of all, get the opinion of a few more doctors before you file a lawsuit. Also, seek the advice of another attorney. If you are suffering now, seek counseling immediately. Estimated cost, probably millions, or hundred of thousands. Ensure you have evidence.