What compensation am I entitled to if malpractice is proven?

Compensatory damages "compensate" the injured person for various kinds of losses or damages. Your legal rights to compensation may include payment of medical bills, past and future, which could include hospitalization, surgical procedures, ongoing medical care, counseling, scar revision/cosmetic surgery, physical therapy, and occupational therapy.

You could be compensated for loss of income and might be entitled to have your lost wages, past and future, paid. You might be entitled to compensation to be re-trained for a new job.

You may receive some compensation for the pain and suffering you have endured and may continue to bear as a result of your injury. Disfigurement, physical or mental impairments could receive compensatory damage.

Punitive damages may be recoverable in certain circumstances. Punitive damages exist to punish or make example of the wrongdoer for conduct that is intentional, or when the wrongdoer acts in a reckless manner in disregard for the rights of others. Punitive damages are not awarded as compensation to a plaintiff but solely to punish, penalize, or deter a defendant and require proof of not just a simple mistake but really bad behavior. An example would be a doctor who performed surgery while drunk causing a terrible outcome completely out of proportion to the risks of the procedure.

Loss of consortium is a claim separate from the injury victim's claim. The spouse of an injured person may be entitled to compensation when an injury is so severe that it interferes with the injured party's spousal relations. Many courts recognize the right of the injured person's spouse to recover in an appropriate case for a loss of support, services, love, companionship, society, affection, sexual relations and solace in the form of a loss of consortium action.