Damages That Can Be Calculated

Economic damages, also called special damages, are lost wages and loss of earning capacity (which includes employment benefits), past and future medical bills, and other financial losses caused by the medical malpractice injury. This includes all the money that one has lost and is expected to lose in the future because of the injury. Other calculated damages include medical bills, the most significant of which are future medical bills.

Future Medical Bills. Often injuries are so severe in medical malpractice cases that they require medical care for the lifetime of the patient. The dollar amount of future medical care can sometimes exceed more than one million dollars, depending on the age of the patient. In these cases, personal injury lawyers should hire an expert specializing in calculating future medical bills, called a medical economist, to help a jury understand what these types of damages entail, to help get a better jury verdict.