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Can I Sue My Doctor for Emotional Distress?

Dawn Pinnisi

August 13, 2024

Doctors are legally bound to act in a way that meets or exceeds the professionally accepted standard of care for any situation they are handling. However, it’s not uncommon for medical negligence to cause injuries to patients, leading to significant financial losses and emotional distress, so let’s answer this: Can I sue my doctor for emotional distress?

Just like physical distress, emotional distress can be damaging in many ways. The law allows injury victims to seek compensation for emotional damage, but doing so requires proving your emotional distress, which is a tough task. Emotional distress is more challenging to prove than physical distress because emotional damage is intangible and not immediately observable.

However, the New Jersey medical malpractice attorneys at Varcadipane & Pinnisi, P.C. can help. They will assess the weight of your claim and determine if you have grounds to sue your doctor to seek compensation. Continue reading to better understand your options after experiencing emotional pain caused by a doctor’s negligence.

What Is Emotional Distress?

Emotional distress refers to mental suffering that is occasioned by a consequence of a harmful incident. Such a response may manifest in the form of diverse behaviors such as anxiety, nervousness, anger, and others.

However, note that emotional distress is not similar to depression, but depression can manifest as a symptom of emotional distress.

Can I Sue My Doctor for Emotional Distress?

If you suffer emotional distress due to a doctor’s negligence, you can seek compensation. The Negligent Infliction of Emotional Distress (NIED) doctrine allows you to sue a doctor for damages due to negligence.

Note that you can make the claim, even without any accompanying physical harm. For example, if a patient is wrongly informed they have a serious illness due to a mix-up in medical test results, they may suffer significant emotional distress and could pursue an NIED claim.

Compensation for emotional distress can cover therapy costs, lost wages, and other related damages. However, proving NIED can be challenging.

How Can I Prove Negligence?

To succeed in your claim against the doctor, you must prove that the doctor’s conduct was negligent. This entails proving the following elements:

  • That the doctor owed you a duty not to put you at foreseeable risk of emotional harm.
  • The doctor breached this duty by injuring you physically, or their actions or inactions brought you emotional distress.
  • You suffered severe emotional pain due to the doctor’s negligence.
  • Proof that the doctor’s negligent actions directly link to your emotional distress.

In New Jersey, for instance, you don’t have to be the person directly harmed to claim emotional distress. If you witnessed someone else getting hurt due to a doctor’s negligence, you can still make a claim. To do this, your lawyer will have to prove four things:

  • The event caused injury to the relative.
  • The observation resulted in severe distress.
  • An intimate relationship with the injured person.
  • You observed the event that caused an intimate person injury.

What Kind of Damages Can You Recover if You Sue?

Most emotional distress cases begin with a physical injury, with an emotional toll accompanying it. Usually, victims of medical malpractice wonder what kind of damages they can recover from an emotional distress claim.

Here are the recoverable damages of an emotional distress claim:

  • Post-traumatic stress disorder
  • Sleep disturbances
  • Severe anxiety or depression
  • Phantom limb pain
  • Chronic fatigue
  • Loss of consortium
  • Disfigurement
  • Cognitive impairments
  • Decreased quality of life

Emotional distress is one of the non-economic damages, meaning it doesn’t have a direct financial cost. However, your attorney will assess how the incident has impacted your life. They will then calculate the total amount you may be entitled to based on various ways the incident impacted you.

What Are Some Reasons to Sue?

There are many compelling reasons to sue a doctor for emotional distress. These include the following:

  • Negligence or malpractice. When a doctor’s significant error, such as a surgical mistake, results in severe emotional suffering, this can be grounds for a lawsuit.
  • Breach of confidentiality. If a doctor discloses sensitive patient information without consent, it can lead to embarrassment, anxiety, or other emotional distress. This is especially true if the information is personal or stigmatizing.
  • Lack of informed consent. If a patient undergoes a procedure without fully understanding the risks, resulting in unexpected emotional trauma.
  • Unprofessional behavior. Any abusive or inappropriate conduct by the doctor that causes emotional distress.

Whatever the case may be, your medical malpractice attorney will help you build a strong case and advise whether you can sue your doctor for emotional distress.

Consult a New Jersey Medical Malpractice Lawyer

If you have a medical malpractice case and you want to sue your doctor for emotional distress, the attorneys at Varcadipane & Pinnisi, P.C. can determine whether you deserve compensation for emotional distress as well as physical and financial injuries.

Contact us today online or by calling 201-588-1500 and schedule your free consultation.

Dawn M. Pinnisi

Dawn M. Pinnisi is a distinguished attorney with a track record of excellence in advocating for victims of injury and negligence. Dawn is a Founding Partner of the Firm, a member of the Million Dollar Advocates Forum, and has been awarded by the National Trial Lawyers.

University: J.D. Brooklyn Law School

Bar Number: 33771999

Locations: New Jersey and New York.

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This page has been written, edited, and reviewed by a team of legal writers following our comprehensive editorial guidelines. This page was approved by Founding Partners, Jeffrey W. Varcadipane & Dawn M. Pinnisi, with more than 40 years of combined legal experience as personal injury attorneys.

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