Emotional distress caused by a doctor’s mistake can be worse than a physical injury. Sometimes, victims can be eligible for compensation. But just because emotional suffering cannot be seen, it’s often difficult to obtain a recovery than it would normally be if you would have been injured. Some countries have very specific rules when it comes to make a claim for medical malpractice.
Doctors have the duty to give patients special and a high level of medical care. In case malpractice occur, doctors can leave patients with long-lasting health negative effects, even to the point they might not be able to work or enjoy their daily activities anymore.
Emotional suffering is when your mental or physical health has been affected from a traumatic event. The symptoms can differ in each person, but some the common ones are the following:
- Depression
- Anxiety
- Weight loss
- Insomnia
- Aggression
- Memory issues
- Loss of sexual desire
- Substance and alcohol abuse
Victims who prove to have severe emotional distress can obtain great compensation for paying their medical expenses, and the lost income for their sorrow. When a doctor’s behavior might be specifically brutal, the court might decide to honor punitive damages, which serve as a penalty for the suspect.
Can You Sue a Doctor for Causing Emotional Distress?
The short answer is “yes”. When a patient is suffering because of some doctor’s negligence, they can sue them for emotional distress and physical harm. Sometimes, emotional distress is worse than physical distress. It can have so many negative health effects, like anxiety, nervousness, nausea, mental agony, hysteria, insomnia, and grief. But not only the effects are bad, but they can also last for a long time.
Emotional distress can be difficult to prove than physical distress, as emotional suffering isn’t immediately felt. It can start with severe anxiety, and depression, among other problems. Not to mention that can lead to suicide.
Usually, there are two situations that may entitle you to experience emotional distress:
- When a doctor causes you emotional suffering because they might have misdiagnosed you.
- When a doctor act negligently, also causes you physical injury.
In the UK, a victim has the right to seek damages for the emotional disturbance that doesn’t arise from a physical injury. But if injuries are involved, you’re likely to be awarded compensation. However, it’s important to secure qualified legal representation to prove a doctor’s fault for your injuries or emotional distress. If you or someone loved suffered emotional distress because of medical negligence, contact a law firm to help you calculate how much medical negligence compensation you could claim.
How to Prove Emotional Suffering?
The main difficulty in confirming a claim for emotional distress is providing evidence of what happened and what caused you harm. You will need the following:
- The act resulted in severe emotional distress.
- Evidence that you’ve interacted with the doctor that caused you harm.
- Evidence with doctor’s duty that medical negligence happened.
- The resulting emotional suffering, which also caused actual damages.
When these types of medical accidents happen and the cases go to trial, an expert is required to help the patient obtain compensation. Here’s the additional evidence you can bring when proving the claim:
- Email messages
- Records of missed work or lost pays
- Medical bills
- Records from witnesses to the incident
You must be able to demonstrate the cause and effect of your injuries in order to prove emotional distress. The intensity of your emotional distress matters most. Courts consider the level of your emotional suffering when it comes to award compensation. The more you’ve been injured or suffered, the more likely the court will work in your favor.
It’s important to also focus on emotional injury too, so be sure to provide evidence related to physical injuries and symptoms linked to your emotional state. Panic attacks, insomnia, headaches, weight loss or gain, gastritis, and so on – these are all physical conditions that could be caused by emotional distress.
Claims of emotional suffering must be maintained by at least one medical professional with enough experience and qualifications needed to diagnose or treat psychological issues resulting from emotional distress.
Overall, emotional distress can be really hard to evaluate in a personal injury claim, including medical malpractice claim. And this is because everyone has many different emotional reactions to many things. What bothers a person, won’t cause absolutely any stress to another. A medical malpractice claim is also difficult to claim because oftentimes, the injury can be hidden. It’s tricky to make your emotional distress visible by showing them how it manifested and affected your life.
So, to start a claim for medical negligence, you must:
- Gather evidence
- Record what happened
- Find a clinical negligence lawyer
In case of medical negligence, it’s common to sue someone for physical and emotional damages. People are getting confused about whether they have the right or not to sue someone for emotional distress. Going through a severe accident not only can make you physically ill, but mentally too. Suing for emotional distress is possible, yet you need very strong evidence to prove your injuries and suffering.
It is vital to contact a personal injury attorney so that they can assess the level of your case and give you the most suitable options.
Malpractice is a traumatic event. A person might experience unforgettable psychological injuries, besides physical injuries. Depression, PTSD, and other health disorders might occur and prevent someone from being able to work anymore, perform regular activities, and enjoy life.
UK personal injury laws identify emotional suffering as legally compensable harm. Thus, if you’ve been a victim of some type of accident, including slips, falls, car accidents, and medical malpractice, you can receive compensation for the emotional distress caused. Proving that you have suffered emotional distress because of a medical professional can be hard, but it’s worth the struggle. Everyone should receive the right medical care, and no one should experience physical or mental injuries.
