KW Economics prepares life care plan costing for medical malpractice cases venued in Tennessee: what the loss claim consists of, the records that drive it, and a present value built to Tennessee 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.
Tennessee courts ask whether the economist is qualified by training and experience, whether the facts and data behind the opinion are trustworthy, and whether the method is reliable and was applied to the case, with the trial judge acting as gatekeeper. An economic damages report meets that inquiry by naming the published source behind every rate and table and tying each assumption to the record.
Highest court: Tennessee Supreme Court. Court system: tncourts.gov.
Federal venues: Eastern District of Tennessee, Middle District of Tennessee, Western District of Tennessee.
Outside the civil courts, wage-loss disputes in workers' compensation matters proceed before the Tennessee Bureau of Workers' Compensation.
Tennessee gathers the death claim into a single action that carries forward the decedent's own cause of action: recovery includes the decedent's pre-death losses and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, the pecuniary value of the decedent's life measured from earnings and life expectancy net of personal expenses, and the survivors' loss of consortium. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault reaches half, the collateral source rule applies outside health care liability claims, statutory limits apply to noneconomic damages in most cases while economic damages are unlimited, and prejudgment interest is discretionary.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing present value opinions, and revaluation when the plan is updated.
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.
Tennessee courts ask whether the economist is qualified by training and experience, whether the facts and data behind the opinion are trustworthy, and whether the method is reliable and was applied to the case, with the trial judge acting as gatekeeper. An economic damages report meets that inquiry by naming the published source behind every rate and table and tying each assumption to the record. Medical Malpractice cases venued in Tennessee are heard in the Circuit Court (General jurisdiction; civil cases and criminal jury trials) and the Chancery Court (Equity jurisdiction; contracts, trusts, corporate matters), with final appeals to the Tennessee Supreme Court. Matters within federal jurisdiction proceed in the Eastern District of Tennessee, Middle District of Tennessee, and Western District of Tennessee.
Tennessee gathers the death claim into a single action that carries forward the decedent's own cause of action: recovery includes the decedent's pre-death losses and suffering, medical and funeral expenses, the pecuniary value of the decedent's life measured from earnings and life expectancy net of personal expenses, and the survivors' loss of consortium. Recovery is barred once the plaintiff's fault reaches half, the collateral source rule applies outside health care liability claims, statutory limits apply to noneconomic damages in most cases while economic damages are unlimited, and prejudgment interest is discretionary. 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 Tennessee rules to a documented figure.
Request a consultation on Life Care Plan Costing or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.