Ever wondered how a dollar figure gets put on a medical mistake?
It doesn’t just come out of nowhere. There is a well-defined formula for calculating damages in a medical malpractice claim. And when you know what it is, it all makes sense.
It varies case by case. However, the method in which the numbers are totaled is consistent. If you learn how to play the game:
- Know what your claim might be worth
- Understand which losses actually count
- See why some cases pay out far more than others
Let’s jump in!
In this guide you’ll discover:
- What Counts As Damages In A Malpractice Case?
- The Two Main Types Of Damages
- Why The Statute Of Limitations Injury Claim Deadline Matters
- What Affects Your Final Payout
What Counts As Damages In A Malpractice Case?
Damages are simply the losses you suffer because of a medical mistake.
If a doctor, nurse or hospital hurts you by not giving you the appropriate standard of care, you are entitled to compensation. This is referred to as “damages” and can include your medical bills as well as the pain you suffered. However…
Not all negative outcomes are malpractice. You must show that a provider violated the standard of care AND that the violation caused your injury to have a valid case. That’s a lot to prove. That’s precisely why so many file a claim with the help of a Hodes Milman medical malpractice lawyer as soon as possible. When it comes to a statute of limitations injury claim, timing is everything. If you don’t file in time, your case doesn’t matter.
Once negligence is established, the focus shifts to adding up your losses.
The Two Main Types Of Damages
Every medical malpractice payout is built from two big buckets:
- Economic damages — the losses you can put a receipt on.
- Non-economic damages — the losses that don’t come with a price tag.
Let’s look at both.
Economic Damages
These are the easy ones because they come with numbers attached.
Economic damages consist of every financial loss you incurred as a result of the malpractice. This includes anything you paid out of pocket for, or lost money as a direct result of the injury. Typical economic damages include:
- Past and future medical expenses
- Lost income and reduced earning ability
- Rehabilitation and therapy costs
- Medical equipment and home modifications
The easiest part? These. You collect the bills, and hire an economist to forecast future expenses. Math, nothing more.
Non-Economic Damages
Now this is where it gets harder.
Non-economic damages are those losses that aren’t reflected in an invoice. Pain and suffering. Emotional anguish. Loss of enjoyment of life. How do you value not being able to lift your own children? Tough question. But the law attempts to do it anyway.
Without a receipt, attorneys and insurance companies have to estimate these losses. One typical method involves taking your economic damages and multiplying them by a number that corresponds to the seriousness of your injury. The greater the harm, the higher multiplier.
This is important to know because personal injury cases that involve brain damage have awards nearing $1 million. Death injury payouts average lower at about $380,300. The severity determines everything.
NOTE: Non-economic damages may be capped in some states. For example, California limits pain and suffering awards. Pennsylvania and New Jersey have no caps – hence, higher payouts.
Why The Statute Of Limitations Injury Claim Deadline Matters
Before we go any further, we need to talk about time.
A statute of limitations injury claim deadline refers to the amount of time you have to file your lawsuit. If you miss this deadline, your case gets tossed out immediately – regardless of how much money you’re owed.
The statute of limitations is typically between two and four years in most states. However, it doesn’t always begin running on the day of the negligent act. Under what’s known as the “discovery rule,” it usually begins when you discover (or should have discovered) the injury. This can be a real help to individuals whose injuries were not immediately apparent.
Consider this common scenario:
A surgeon forgets a sponge in a patient during surgery. The patient remains unaware until a routine scan years later. The discovery rule starts the statute of limitations on the date of discovery.
However, don’t get too comfortable. Many states also have what is known as a “statute of repose.” This is an absolute cutoff regardless of when you discovered the injury. The longer you wait, the greater chance you lose your ability to file at all.
What Affects Your Final Payout
So what makes one case worth $100,000 and another worth millions?
There are a few factors that will consistently move the needle and knowing these will help you have realistic expectations prior to filing. The biggest factors influencing…
- Seriousness of injury: The more serious and permanent the injury, such as brain injury or paralysis, the higher the award will be.
- Your state’s laws: Caps on damages can limit your recovery, sometimes dramatically.
- Evidence you have: The better you can prove negligence, the more leverage you have.
- Cost of living: Higher-cost states tend to produce bigger economic damage calculations.
Statistics support that claim. Data from the National Practitioner Data Bank shows the average malpractice settlement totaled approximately $420,000 in 2023, but payouts ranged from less than $100,000 to over $1 million. A small injury that takes a few weeks to heal isn’t going to be compensated the same way as a life-altering injury.
Rarely do cases go to court. Most are settled out of court when lawyers and insurers square off and reason with each other about the value of the evidence and what a jury would likely award.
Once again, there’s your “keep it simple” lesson…. make a good case and the settlement will often come on its own.
Bringing It All Together
Now you understand how damages actually get calculated in a medical malpractice lawsuit.
The reality is that these cases are complex and time-sensitive. You need to collect the proper evidence and most importantly file in time. Let’s just do a quick rundown:
- Damages fall into economic and non-economic buckets
- Economic damages are the receipts; non-economic damages are the harder-to-measure losses
- Your statute of limitations injury claim deadline can make or break everything
- Severity, state laws, and evidence all shape your payout
Don’t have the time to handle all of this yourself?
Absolutely. Medical malpractice law is one of the most complicated areas of injury law, and the deadlines are very strict. The best thing you can do is know what losses you’ve incurred, know your deadline, and seek appropriate counsel before the deadline passes. Time WILL run out.