KW Economics prepares life care plan costing for medical malpractice cases venued in Arizona: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to Arizona damages rules and venues. Plaintiff and defense.
In a medical malpractice matter the life care plan often distinguishes the incremental care the injury requires from the care the underlying condition would have required anyway, and the present value must respect that line. The economist values the incremental items only, applies category-specific medical cost growth, and discounts the stream over the life expectancy the medical evidence supports, which may already have been reduced by the condition being treated. Where the physicians disagree on life expectancy or on which items are incremental, the report presents the present value under each scenario so the fact finder can attach the number to its finding.
Reduction of a life care plan's line items to a single present value. The plan's items, frequencies, durations, and unit costs are carried forward with medical cost growth appropriate to each category, then discounted over the applicable life expectancy. Plan authorship stays with the life care planner; our role is the economic translation of the plan into a damages figure that reconciles with the plan and can be examined item by item.
Because the underlying condition often affected work capacity or life expectancy on its own, the apportionment between the injury and the pre-existing condition is usually the most contested assumption and the one that most changes the total. In cases of permanent disability the incremental care costs and the earnings loss are both large and run across a long horizon, and the life expectancy used for each stream is a second point of contention. In delayed-diagnosis cases the loss may be measured as the difference between two outcome paths, each with its own earnings and care profile.
Arizona courts screen expert opinion for reliability before it reaches the jury: the judge asks whether the witness is qualified, whether the method rests on sufficient facts and reliable principles, and whether those principles were applied reliably to the case. An economic damages report is written to that inquiry, with each input tied to the record and each data series identified by source.
Highest court: Arizona Supreme Court. Court system: azcourts.gov.
Federal venues: District of Arizona.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Industrial Commission of Arizona.
Arizona's wrongful death action belongs to the surviving spouse, children, parents, or estate and is measured by their own losses, while the decedent's pre-death claims survive to the estate without damages for the decedent's pain and suffering. The state constitution bars legislative limits on the amount recovered for death or injury, pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, evidence of collateral-source payments is admissible in medical malpractice cases but not in ordinary injury claims, and prejudgment interest is generally limited to liquidated sums.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing present value opinions, and revaluation when the plan is updated.
The same four steps apply to a medical malpractice case venued in Arizona; the damages framework above decides which components enter the total. State the but-for path the causation opinions support: what the patient would have earned, for how long, and what care the underlying condition would have required regardless. Build the injured path from actual post-injury earnings, the work-capacity opinions, and the incremental care plan. Measure each component as the difference between the two paths, projected over the applicable life or worklife expectancy with stated growth. Discount the streams to present value and present the loss under each apportionment or life expectancy scenario the physicians offer.
Arizona courts screen expert opinion for reliability before it reaches the jury: the judge asks whether the witness is qualified, whether the method rests on sufficient facts and reliable principles, and whether those principles were applied reliably to the case. An economic damages report is written to that inquiry, with each input tied to the record and each data series identified by source. Medical Malpractice cases venued in Arizona are heard in the Superior Court (General jurisdiction; larger civil cases, felonies, family law, probate), with final appeals to the Arizona Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the District of Arizona.
Arizona's wrongful death action belongs to the surviving spouse, children, parents, or estate and is measured by their own losses, while the decedent's pre-death claims survive to the estate without damages for the decedent's pain and suffering. The state constitution bars legislative limits on the amount recovered for death or injury, pure comparative fault reduces the award in proportion, evidence of collateral-source payments is admissible in medical malpractice cases but not in ordinary injury claims, and prejudgment interest is generally limited to liquidated sums. The report presents past and future amounts separately, states every rate and table with its source, and shows the result under the alternatives the other side is likely to argue, so counsel can apply the Arizona rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Life Care Plan Costing or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.