The kinds of losses a claim can include
Malpractice damages generally fall into two broad groups. Economic losses include past and future medical costs, lost earnings, and the cost of care or help at home, and they are proven with bills, wage records, and projections from retained witnesses. Non-economic losses cover pain, suffering, and loss of enjoyment of life, which have no invoice and are left to the judgment of a jury or to settlement negotiation. New York does not place a general cap on pain and suffering in malpractice cases, unlike a number of other states, but courts can reduce awards they find out of line with comparable cases. When a patient dies, what family members can recover is governed by wrongful death rules that are narrower in some respects and have been the subject of repeated legislative debate.
Proving losses that have not happened yet
In serious injury cases, future losses are often the largest part of the claim and the hardest to prove. A life care plan prepared by a qualified professional can describe the treatment, equipment, and support you are likely to need, and an economist can translate that into present-day amounts. Treating physicians' views about your prognosis carry particular weight. Save receipts for out-of-pocket costs and records of missed work, and ask your lawyer how to document the ways the injury has changed daily life rather than posting about it publicly. Tax returns and employment records support any claim for lost earnings.
How an award is paid and reduced
In New York, the amount a jury awards is not always the amount paid in a lump sum. Larger awards for future losses may be paid over time under structured judgment rules, and amounts already covered by certain other sources, such as some insurance benefits, can reduce the award. Liens from health insurers, Medicare, or Medicaid may need to be resolved out of the recovery. Attorney fees in New York medical malpractice cases follow a sliding scale set by law, which we explain at the outset. When we review a case, we look at the injury, the medical evidence of causation, and the documentation of losses, and we tell you what further proof would be needed.
