Personal injury economic damages analysis applied to medical malpractice litigation: methodology, deliverables, and case-specific considerations.
In a medical malpractice claim every component of the integrated report is measured as the difference between two paths: the outcome the patient would have had with proper care and the outcome the injury produced. The economist takes the causation and prognosis opinions as the baseline, builds the but-for earnings and care profile from them, and measures only the incremental earnings loss, household services loss, and care cost the injury added. Where physicians disagree on life expectancy or apportionment, the report presents the total under each scenario so the fact finder can attach the number to its finding.
An integrated economic damages report for an injured person: lost earnings and fringe benefits, lost household services, and the present value of future medical and care costs supplied by treating providers or a life care plan. One report carries every economic component to a single present value with consistent growth, discount, and life expectancy assumptions, so counsel can present the damages as a whole and the jury sees one set of numbers.
The claim consists of lost earnings and earning capacity attributable to the injury, lost fringe benefits, the replacement cost of household services the patient can no longer perform, the present value of the incremental future care documented in a life care plan or the treating recommendations, and, where the patient has died, the survivor and estate components of a wrongful death analysis. The records that drive the analysis are the earnings and benefit history, the medical opinions that separate the injury from the underlying condition, and the care plan that distinguishes incremental care from the care the underlying condition would have required.
We issue the final report and provide deposition and trial testimony, rebuttal of opposing economic reports, and recalculation when the life care plan or the medical record is updated.
From the life care plan or treating recommendations and the medical opinions that distinguish the two. The economist values the incremental items only, states which items were treated as incremental and why, and shows the effect of moving contested items from one category to the other.
Yes. The earnings and household services components can be built from the financial and household records while the plan is being finalized, and the plan is integrated on the same assumptions when it is ready.
Request a consultation on Personal Injury or call (201) 343-0700. Plaintiff and defense counsel.