Medical expenses and lost wages are the most concrete elements of the
plaintiff's damages. The plaintiff's personal characteristics often undermine
his or her lost wage claims, but medical expense claims do not depend on the
personal worth of the plaintiff. In many medical malpractice cases, the medical
expenses are the bulk of the plaintiff's damages, driving the enormous awards
in cases involving brain-damaged babies. Juries are not reticent about giving
the plaintiff money to pay for medical care. From their perspective, it is not
a choice between the plaintiff's or the physician's bearing the costs; it is a
choice between the physician and society. The jury may assume that if they do
not give the plaintiff money to pay for medical care, he or she is likely to
become a ward of the state.
Medical expenses provide the most psychologically convincing evidence of
personal injuries. A long stay in the hospital and a projection of substantial
future medical needs add credibility to all of the other elements of the
plaintiff's case. There is a rule of thumb in automobile accident cases that
the cases should settle for a multiple of the sum of the medical expenses and
the plaintiff's lost wages (usually three to five times the sum).
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