Types of Damages You Can Recover From a Hip Replacement Lawsuit
If you have suffered because of a defective metal-on-metal hip implant, you are entitled to compensation. An experienced hip replacement lawyer can help you file a lawsuit seeking the monetary payment you are owed. Read on to learn about the damages you may be able to collect in your defective hip implant lawsuit. If you’ve been injured by a defective medical device in California, call a seasoned California medical device defect attorney at the Morris Law Firm for help with your defective product liability claim.
Medical Expenses
If you were fit with a defective hip implant, you are entitled to compensation for any out-of-pocket expenses you were forced to endure as a result of the defect and associated conditions. Any bills you’ve paid for medication, treatments, surgeries, physical therapy, nursing care, and other medical expenses can be recovered in a hip replacement lawsuit.
You are also entitled to an estimate of your future anticipated medical expenses. If you expect to go through additional procedures or surgeries, if you will need a wheelchair or walker, if you will need future physical therapy, chiropractic care, or any other medical care in the future, the hip implant manufacturer is responsible. Your hip replacement attorney can help you value your claim and ensure that the device manufacturer pays you everything they owe you for damages you have already incurred and those you expect to incur in the future.
Lost Income
If your defective implant has caused you to miss work–for subsequent medical visits, for recovery time after injuries or further surgeries and procedures, for days when you are simply in too much pain to work–then you are entitled to compensation. Any wages you lost because you were unable to work as a result of your detective implant are recoverable in your defective device case.
Loss of Future Earning Capacity
In addition to the income you’ve lost while recovering from your implant-induced injuries, you may be able to recover compensation for the loss of your future earning capacity. If the defective device has contributed to a long-term or permanent loss of functionality, you might be unable to earn the same income in the same profession. If your defective hip implant has caused long-term disability, you can seek the value of your lost anticipated future income resulting from the defect and accompanying injuries.
Pain and Suffering, Psychological Damages
In a personal injury lawsuit, you can seek compensation for both “economic” and “noneconomic” damages. Economic damages are your out-of-pocket expenses, like medical bills and lost wages. Noneconomic damages are harms that are harder to quantify but are no less real.
Your hip replacement attorney can help you seek damages for the pain, suffering, and emotional distress you’ve suffered as a result of your defective hip implant. If your defective implant has impacted your ability to perform daily activities, enjoy time with your family, enjoy your hobbies, be intimate with your spouse, or otherwise enjoy your life, you deserve compensation for that loss. If you have any permanent disability or disfigurement from the defective implant and resulting conditions or surgeries, you can seek compensation for the emotional damage associated with those conditions. You are also entitled to compensation for the sheer pain you’ve endured as a result of your implant and the side effects.
Punitive Damages
Punitive damages are available in cases where the defendant’s conduct was especially reckless or malicious. In a defective hip implant lawsuit, if you and your attorney can demonstrate that the company knew its product was dangerously defective and chose to sell it to patients and doctors anyway, then you could be eligible for punitive damages.
Punitive damages are awarded on top of other, “compensatory” damages, and are intended to punish the defendant as much as reward the victim plaintiff. Punitive damages can often double or even triple the value of a claim if the defendant knowingly put patients’ lives in danger.
Call Morris Law Firm for Help With a Defective Hip Replacement Device Claim in California or Nationwide
If you have been injured in Southern California or anywhere in the country by a metal-on-metal hip replacement or another defective medical device, call a passionate product defect attorney today at the Morris Law Firm. We’ll help you fight for the compensation you deserve if you have been seriously injured by a recalled medical device or other defective product.
