Medical Malpractice Attorney Charlotte and Surrounding Areas
When you put your life and body in the hands of a medical professional, you trust them to act in a reasonable and professional manner to not cause you any harm or further intrusion than their services naturally require. When a medical professional causes you harm, results can be life-altering, if not fatal.
If a medical professional has failed to perform his or her duties competently, you may have a right to sue for medical malpractice. Typical medical malpractice actions fall into one of three categories:
- Failure to diagnose
- Improper treatment, or
- Failure to inform patient of known risks
North Carolina caps non-economic damages from medical malpractice at $500,000. Non-economic damages include compensation for things like pain and suffering, emotional distress, and the loss of enjoyment of life that result from the defendant’s medical malpractice. However, this cap does not apply when the injured patient suffered certain kinds of disfiguring or permanent injury AND the defendant's malpractice arose from recklessness, malice, an intentional act, or gross negligence. Where those criteria are met in a medical malpractice case, all damages are uncapped.
It’s important to remember that compensation for losses like past and future medical bills, lost income, lost earning capacity, and other economic damages are not subject to any sort of cap in a North Carolina medical malpractice case.
Medical malpractice actions in North Carolina are governed by a complex set of laws, strict requirements for proving harm and negligence, and strict time deadlines to file a lawsuit for medical malpractice.