Epilepsy misdiagnosis compensation claim lawyers

In the UK, an estimated 633,000 people live with epilepsy. The consequences of an epilepsy diagnosis are severe and can have a life-altering impact on people of all ages. Being diagnosed with epilepsy can result in loss of income, independence, education and employment, among other things such as losing your driving license until your seizures are under control.

Many epilepsy sufferers can live free from seizures if they are properly diagnosed and receive the right treatment, commonly through the form of anti-epileptic drugs (AEDs). However, if a person is misdiagnosed or is given the incorrect treatment for their epilepsy as a result of clinical negligence, it can have a devastating impact on their life.

There are three main types of epilepsy misdiagnosis:

• Epilepsy is diagnosed as something else: It is vital that you are correctly diagnosed for your epilepsy so you can be given the right treatment. Missing the signs of epilepsy or being diagnosed with a different condition can result in your symptoms persisting or underlying issues being left untreated.
• You are diagnosed with the wrong type of epilepsy: The type and severity of epilepsy you are diagnosed with will determine what sort of treatment or medication you receive. If you are diagnosed with the wrong type of epilepsy and treated accordingly, you may not be able to control your seizures. In some cases, being administered the wrong AEDs could even make your seizures more frequent.
• Another condition is wrongly diagnosed as epilepsy: Many other conditions can cause people to have seizures and it is common for people to be diagnosed in error as having epilepsy. This can have a dramatic impact on how you would live your life and the restrictions you would face as someone living with an epilepsy diagnosis. You could also suffer side effects from taking medication for epilepsy unnecessarily.

If your epilepsy was misdiagnosed or you were not given the right treatment for your condition, you could be eligible to make a claim for compensation for medical negligence.

Compensation won't be able to give you back the time you have lost struggling with your condition and the impact receiving inadequate treatment has caused, but it can help you and your family as you navigate the complications you now face in life.

As epilepsy misdiagnosis claims work on a case-by-case basis, it's difficult to determine how much compensation you could receive. There are two variations of damages to be taken into consideration when speculating how much compensation you could be awarded if your claim is successful:

• General Damages: To cover pain, suffering and 'loss of amenity' - the ability to do everyday tasks and hobbies.
• Special Damages: To cover the financial losses such as loss of earnings or medical costs experienced as a direct result of treatment errors or a misdiagnosis of epilepsy.

If you are interested in getting a rough estimate of what your epilepsy misdiagnosis compensation settlement could be worth, you can enter your details in our compensation calculator. Damages are evaluated based on the most recent edition of the Judicial College Guidelines, as instructed by the Ministry of Justice.

In the majority of cases, you have three years from when you were affected by medical negligence to make your claim. This can mean three years beginning at the moment you were impacted by clinical negligence or at the moment when you became aware you had been.

However, there are exceptions to the above:

• When a medical negligence claim involves someone under 18, parents can claim on their behalf until their 18th birthday. Once they are 18, they would then have three years to make a claim for themselves.
• There is no time limit on when you can make a claim on behalf of someone who does not have the mental capacity to make a claim for themselves.

The epilepsy negligence claim process with ClaimsPeople generally consists of the following steps:

1. We will assess the impact that epilepsy medical negligence has had on your condition and on your life. Once we have conducted an evaluation, we will let you know if we think you have a viable claim for epilepsy negligence compensation.
2. If you make a decision to go ahead with legal action, we will put you in touch with a panel of expert UK epilepsy misdiagnosis lawyers who have years of experience with cases of medical negligence like yours.
3. Your solicitor will consult with you about the best course of action to take. They may ask for proof of your condition and will be there to help you find other evidence to support a claim. This can include medical records, expense receipts and details of your employment history.
4. Initially, your solicitor will try to reach an agreement for a settlement out of court. If the other party contests, your solicitor will begin negotiations and keep you informed of proceedings.
5. If you are unable to agree on settlement with a third party, your solicitor will submit your claim to the courts. You will receive a decision from the courts and a successful claim will result in you receiving your epilepsy negligence settlement.

Most of our epilepsy misdiagnosis negligence claims are taken on a no win no fee basis, so you won't pay have to pay any legal costs if your claim is unsuccessful. If you are awarded compensation, a pre-agreed percentage of your compensation amount will be taken by the solicitor as a fee.

Before legal proceedings begin, we will advise you to take out an insurance policy to protect you from legal costs if your epilepsy misdiagnosis claim is unsuccessful. You won't have to pay anything up front and will only have to pay the premium if your claim is successful.