Hospital Slip and Fall Accidents: What Damages are you entitled to?

Types of damages you are entitled to – for premises liability claims and for medical malpractice claims

Hospital slip and fall accidents can be quite severe if the proper measures are not taken to ensure that the accident does not get out of hand. However, there are some cases that are disputed for quite some time, leading to the problems and injuries that have occurred with the slip and fall continue to get worse, and tend to escalate in severity.

During these types of situations, where you or a loved one may be dealing with an excess of bills and doctor’s appointments, it is important to understand what you may gain back from a won negligence or malpractice claim, as well as what you are allowed to attempt to claim for.

What is a Slip and Fall at a Hospital?

The first thing to understand is what a slip and fall accident at a hospital entails. For these situations, a claim can be brought on by two different types of people. They are generally classified as a visitor of the hospital, or a patient at the hospital. The difference between the two is that, with visitors, they will almost always be a case of negligence in a slip and fall case. For patients, they can either fall under the umbrella of a negligence case, or it could be a case of malpractice that led to the slip and fall accident.

In either case, the slip and fall that occurred by either a visitor or patient would be able to be linked to either negligence on the part of the hospital and staff, or to a direct malpractice situation that can be defined and proven. If so, the claim that was made by the patient or guest in question would be verified, and the damages would be paid out.

Types of Slip and Fall Claims

The types of damages and payouts given to those that do win a slip and fall case will depend entirely on what type of case it was classified as. If the case were classified as a negligence claim, the damages that would be paid out may only cover the short term, as the injury was caused by a simple mistake, such as a piece of stair being broken or a spill of liquid not being mopped up properly.

In cases of slip and fall due to malpractice, however, the damages can be a bit more long-term. This is because the damages can occur due to a number of reasons, which can have a long-lasting impact on the patient’s health and well-being. If your case is tied to such a thing like a misdiagnosis, a combination of prescribed drugs and medication, or improper care for your diagnosis, then a medical malpractice claim would be made, which can see the payment being made for things like mental well-being long-term, as well as future doctor’s visits if the long-lasting effects can be tied to the slip and fall case in question.

Damages Awarded to Negligence Claims

In terms of the damages being awarded for Negligence Claims in regards to a slip and fall claim, the medical bills associated with the medical treatment you received for the slip and fall would be paid. This ensures that the lowest amount paid to you, as the claimant, would be enough to cover any expenses posted for the injury itself.

This payout does not just include present bills that may have escalated due to the length of the proceedings, but it will extend out to future bills that may have ties in with the slip and fall accident. For instance, if you were to have a slip and fall accident, and at the present, had minor sprains and a partial fracture to your arm, the damages awarded to you would be the medical bills and payment amounts due to the hospital time while they took care of your arm and sprains. However, if later on down the road you developed severe cases of nausea, migraines, and memory loss, and it were tied to that slip and fall incident, you would get compensation for the visits to the doctor, or of medicine payments prescribed as well.

Damages Awarded to Malpractice Claims

With a medical malpractice claim during a slip and fall accident, you would also gain the benefits of the present and future medical bill expenses being compensated. However, in these types of cases, there is the possibility of also getting compensation for pain and suffering throughout the entirety of the process.

Pain and suffering compensation can be taken care of when dealing with long-term effects of the injury. For example, if you fell down a flight of stairs in a hospital, and ended up breaking your leg, and will have to walk with a limp for the rest of the foreseeable future, the courts may find that you are entitled to a beneficial multiplier on top of what you are already being compensated with. However, this can also go down the other way, where if your injuries are only sustained for a period of a month or so, the compensation awarded may be quite a bit smaller in comparison due to the bills paid off.

Lastly, another major compensation would be lost wages or loss of earning capacity. Both deal with the fact that an injury could severely inhibit your ability to work. As such, if a slip and fall injury that occurred within the hospital caused you to lose your job, or forced you to learn a new job, you would possibly be entitled to your training and education being paid for by the hospital. You could also be given a lump sum if you were to take a reduction in your earning capacity at your job.