Compensation for patient injury

Compensation Eligibility Check

Check if you may be entitled to compensation!

What is patient injury compensation?

You may be entitled to compensation if you have suffered a failure in the healthcare you have received. A failure may occur as a result of the treatment not being carried out in line with good medical practice.

In addition, you may also be entitled to compensation if there is an injury as a result of delayed or missing diagnosis or treatment.

What does it take to receive compensation for a patient injury?

Several conditions must be met for you to be entitled to compensation. Firstly, you must have suffered an injury as a result of a failure in treatment.
Furthermore, there must be a financial loss of at least NOK 10,000, and there must be a causal link between the failure and the financial loss.

A patient injury may occur as a result of, among other things, failure in the provision of healthcare, technical failure of equipment used in the provision of healthcare, contagion/infection when this is not due to the patient's own circumstances or vaccination.

Lack of information may also entitle you to compensation if the other conditions for compensation are met.

In some cases, the right to compensation may also be recognised when there is no failure in the medical care. This applies in cases where there is a particularly large or particularly unexpected injury. This is a narrow exception rule that applies in some cases.

Is treatment abroad covered?

The patient injury scheme can only cover treatment abroad in cases where the public healthcare system has entered into a prior agreement with a treatment centre abroad on the purchase of services.

If you visit a treatment centre abroad on your own initiative, this is not covered by the patient injury scheme.

Who processes claims for patient injury compensation?

The compensation claim is directed against Norwegian Patient Injury Compensation which assesses whether the conditions for compensation are met. Decisions from the Norwegian System of Patient Injury Compensation can be appealed to Health complaint (Patient Compensation Board).

NPE obtains medical documentation and a statement from the treatment centre(s) involved in the case. Normally, the case is also submitted to a medical expert (specialist) who assesses the medical conditions in the case.

If NPE decides that there is a right to compensation, the case proceeds to the calculation of the actual amount of compensation.

New video series!

Our lawyers answer frequently Googled questions about tort law

Watch the video now

Who is entitled to compensation?

It is primarily the directly injured party who may be entitled to compensation under the patient injury scheme. In some cases, other close relatives may also be entitled to compensation. In addition, survivors may also be entitled to compensation if a patient dies as a result of treatment failure.

Should I contact a lawyer?

Although the patient injury scheme is a public administration scheme, many patients perceive the NPE as a counterparty rather than a neutral administrative body.

A patient injury case can present difficult legal and medical issues, and it can be crucial for the case to have the assistance of a lawyer who is familiar with the regulations and the patient injury scheme.

Although NPE does not cover the costs of a lawyer during the medical investigation of the case, it is our experience that the injured party may have just as great a need for assistance during this part of the case processing. Several of our lawyers have extensive experience from the patient injury scheme and can assist in this work.

Will my legal expenses be covered?

NPE does not normally cover lawyer's fees for the period until they have decided whether the injured party is entitled to compensation or not.

When NPE has assessed that there is a right to compensation, reasonable and necessary legal expenses will be covered when calculating the amount of compensation.

In the appeals process with the Patient Injury Complaints Board, reasonable and necessary expenses for legal assistance are covered if the injured party's appeal is upheld.

How is the compensation calculated?

Calculation of compensation follows the rules in the Damages Act.

The common replacement items are:

- Trade compensation
- Revenue loss
- Work in the home
- Additional expenses

The compensation shall include both incurred and future losses. The incurred loss is compensated with interest. A lump sum will be paid for the future loss, including an award of compensation for tax disadvantage.

Compensation for injured children is calculated according to separate rules. In cases where compensation is awarded in the event of death, the starting point is that full compensation is awarded for the loss of dependency that has occurred.

The patient injury scheme does not provide a basis for redress compensation.