Valuing A Medical Malpractice Case

Valuing A Medical Malpractice Case

The value of a medical malpractice case will depend on a number of variables, such as the nature and extent of the injury, i.e., past and future pain and suffering, limitations and restrictions, the nature and extent of the provable economic damages, and projections regarding future medical needs.

Available Damages

A plaintiff who succeeds in proving their medical practice case is entitled to recover for both economic and non-economic damages. Generally, economic damages include past and future medical expenses and lost earnings, while non-economic damages include pain and suffering. If the injured patient is a minor, the parents can recover for loss of services, and the spouse of the injured party can also recover for Loss of consortium and/or loss of services.

No Cap on Non-Economic Damages

Unlike many other states, there is no cap on non-economic damages (i.e., the amount a jury can award for pain and suffering) in New York. Caps on non-economic damages do nothing more than prevent injured parties from being made whole and serve to protect tortfeasors from accountability. Thankfully, New York law recognizes the gross injustice of strict caps and instead places its trust in the civil jury system.

Case Study: An Undiagnosed Stroke

A former client of Oddo & Babat, suffered permanent disability when the emergency room staff failed to recognize and act upon signs of a stroke. If treated with a simple “clot buster” while in the emergency room, he would not have suffered any of his most seriously debilitating injuries. This extremely active 40-year-old man with a wife and two young children who had no prior physical problems, eventually found himself permanently confined to a wheelchair, unable to speak and move his legs, and impeded by cognitive difficulties as a result of the injuries he sustained from delay in diagnosis and treatment.

After proving that the defendants committed malpractice in failing to timely treat our client, and that delay caused his injuries, we had to assess the damages sustained by him and his family as a result. Under New York law, the client was entitled to be compensated for his past and future physical and emotional pain and suffering, past and future economic loss and past and future medical expenses. His adjusted life expectancy as a result of the injuries he sustained was taken into account when calculating future damages. In this case, the value of his future medical expenses was contested by the defense. We were able to overcome their arguments by retaining high quality medical and economic experts to compile a Life Care Plan that detailed the projected costs of medical care over his lifetime. By using irrefutable data, the Life Care Plan analysis was a significant factor in proving that at least 8 million dollars was going to be needed to fund his medical care over his lifetime. It is important to note that his wife had a claim for loss of services and consortium as well. In this case, the loss of services claim included compensation for the loss of having her husband’s contributions to the home (e.g., home repairs and maintenance, lawn care, food shopping, household chores, childcare), as well as the loss of consortium (i.e., loss of a personal and intimate physical relationship, loss of quality of marital relations) both past and future. We were able to secure a 15 million dollar settlement for the family through meticulous preparation and attention to every element of our clients’ damages.

For more information on Valuing A Medical Malpractice Case In NY, an initial consultation is your best next step. Get the information and legal answers you’re seeking by calling (646) 828 1980 today.