When nursing home neglect or medical negligence causes serious injury, the harm is not limited to pain and suffering.
Families can also face substantial financial losses.
Medical treatment, hospitalization, rehabilitation, future care, lost income, and other measurable losses may become part of the damages analysis. In a wrongful death case, additional economic losses may also have to be evaluated.
These measurable financial losses are generally referred to as economic damages.
What Are Economic Damages?
Economic damages are financial losses that can be identified and supported with evidence.
Unlike pain, suffering, emotional distress, or loss of quality of life, economic damages usually involve expenses, income, or other losses that can be calculated in dollars.
Depending on the facts of the case, economic damages may include:
- past medical expenses;
- future medical care;
- rehabilitation and therapy;
- medications and medical equipment;
- nursing or attendant care;
- lost wages or income;
- diminished future earning capacity; and
- certain economic losses associated with wrongful death.
The damages available in a particular case depend on the facts, the nature of the claim, and the evidence.
Medical Expenses
Serious nursing home and medical negligence cases frequently involve substantial medical treatment.
A resident who suffers a preventable fall may require hospitalization, surgery, rehabilitation, and follow-up care.
A patient harmed by delayed diagnosis may need additional treatment that would not otherwise have been necessary.
A medication error can result in emergency transportation, intensive monitoring, hospitalization, or prolonged treatment.
Relevant medical expenses may include:
- ambulance and EMS charges;
- emergency department care;
- hospital admissions;
- physician services;
- surgery;
- diagnostic testing;
- rehabilitation;
- physical, occupational, or speech therapy;
- prescription medication;
- medical equipment; and
- follow-up treatment.
We examine whether those expenses were caused by the negligence being alleged.
Future Medical Care
Some injuries do not end when the patient leaves the hospital.
A serious fracture, brain injury, pressure injury, infection, surgical complication, or neurological injury may create continuing medical needs.
Future damages may involve:
- additional surgery;
- rehabilitation;
- physician follow-up;
- wound care;
- medication;
- medical equipment;
- home healthcare;
- skilled nursing services; or
- other continuing treatment.
Future medical expenses should be supported by medical evidence.
In significant cases, physicians, life-care planners, economists, or other qualified experts may be needed to determine what future care is reasonably expected and what that care may cost.
Rehabilitation and Therapy
A serious injury can require extensive rehabilitation.
That may include:
- physical therapy;
- occupational therapy;
- speech therapy;
- cognitive rehabilitation;
- mobility training; and
- assistance with activities of daily living.
For an elderly nursing home resident, the consequences of an injury can be particularly significant.
A resident who was previously walking may become dependent on a wheelchair. A person who could transfer with limited assistance may become dependent on staff. A fracture may lead to surgery, immobility, deconditioning, and further decline.
The economic consequences of that additional care may need to be evaluated.
Lost Income
Medical negligence can also interfere with a person’s ability to work.
A patient may miss work because of hospitalization, surgery, medical appointments, rehabilitation, or continuing disability.
Lost-income evidence may include:
- wage statements;
- tax records;
- employment records;
- records of missed work;
- documentation of bonuses or commissions;
- business records for self-employed individuals; and
- testimony concerning employment and earnings.
The goal is to determine the income actually lost because of the injury.
Diminished Earning Capacity
Some injuries affect more than past wages.
A serious medical injury may permanently reduce a person’s ability to earn income in the future.
The person may no longer be able to perform the same job, work the same number of hours, or pursue the same career.
That is different from simply adding up the paychecks that have already been missed.
Evaluating diminished earning capacity may require consideration of:
- age;
- education;
- occupation;
- work history;
- medical restrictions;
- future prognosis;
- expected career path; and
- remaining work life.
Economists and vocational experts may become important in substantial cases.
Economic Losses in Nursing Home Cases
Many nursing home residents are retired, so lost wages may not be a major component of the claim.
That does not mean economic damages are unimportant.
A serious nursing home injury may generate substantial expenses involving:
- hospitalization;
- surgery;
- rehabilitation;
- ambulance transportation;
- wound treatment;
- additional medical care; and
- treatment required because the resident’s condition deteriorated.
The key question is whether the expense was caused by the neglect or other wrongful conduct being alleged.
Falls and Fractures
A nursing home fall can create significant economic losses.
A hip fracture may require emergency transportation, surgery, hospitalization, rehabilitation, and increased levels of care.
We examine the resident’s condition before the fall and compare it with what happened afterward.
If the resident required substantially more medical care because of a preventable injury, those additional costs may become part of the damages analysis.
Pressure Injuries
Severe pressure injuries can require extensive medical treatment.
Depending on the wound, treatment may include:
- wound-care specialists;
- repeated debridement;
- antibiotics;
- hospitalization;
- specialty mattresses;
- surgery;
- nutritional intervention; and
- prolonged skilled care.
The records should show when the wound developed, how it progressed, what treatment was provided, and what additional expenses resulted.
Infection and Sepsis
An untreated or poorly managed infection can result in hospitalization, IV antibiotics, intensive care, surgery, rehabilitation, or other significant treatment.
In these cases, causation and damages are closely connected.
It is not enough to show that medical bills exist.
The evidence must establish that the negligence caused or contributed to the medical condition that produced those expenses.
Medication Errors
Medication errors can also produce substantial financial harm.
An incorrect dose, insulin error, anticoagulant mistake, omitted medication, or administration of another resident’s medication may result in emergency evaluation, hospitalization, testing, monitoring, or treatment.
We examine the medical consequences of the error and the expenses that followed.
Wrongful Death and Economic Losses
When nursing home neglect or medical negligence contributes to a death, the damages analysis changes.
Wrongful death and estate claims can involve different categories of damages depending on the facts and applicable Kentucky law.
Economic issues may include medical expenses incurred before death, funeral-related expenses, and other financial losses associated with the death.
These cases require careful analysis because the nature of the claim and the person entitled to pursue it can affect the damages that may be available.
Economic Damages Must Be Proven
A damages claim should be supported by evidence.
Depending on the case, that may include:
- medical bills;
- hospital records;
- wage records;
- tax returns;
- employment records;
- rehabilitation invoices;
- pharmacy records;
- receipts;
- expert opinions;
- life-care planning; and
- economic analysis.
The stronger the documentation, the more clearly the financial consequences of the negligence can be presented.
Past Losses and Future Losses Are Different
Past economic losses can often be documented from existing bills and records.
Future losses require additional analysis.
A future-care claim should be based on what the medical evidence shows the patient is reasonably expected to need.
Similarly, future lost earnings should be based on evidence rather than speculation.
Serious cases may require experts to explain those future losses to a jury.
Economic Damages and Causation
Economic damages cannot be separated from causation.
The defendant may argue that certain medical treatment was caused by an unrelated condition rather than the negligence at issue.
For example, a nursing home may contend that hospitalization would have occurred because of the resident’s underlying disease even without the alleged neglect.
That is why we build the medical timeline and examine which expenses resulted from the event or deterioration being claimed.
How Ross Mann Nursing Home and Medical Negligence Lawyers Evaluates Economic Damages
We begin with the records.
We identify the medical care that followed the injury.
We separate expenses related to the alleged negligence from unrelated treatment.
When the case involves lost income or future financial losses, we gather the employment and financial evidence necessary to evaluate those damages.
When expert analysis is needed, we work with qualified professionals to determine the nature and extent of the economic loss.
The goal is not to inflate damages.
The goal is to identify and prove the financial losses that the evidence supports.
Talk to a Kentucky Nursing Home and Medical Negligence Lawyer
If nursing home neglect or medical negligence caused serious injury or death, economic damages may be only one part of the case, but they should not be overlooked.
Ross Mann Nursing Home and Medical Negligence Lawyers represents families throughout Kentucky in serious nursing home neglect, medical malpractice, and wrongful death cases.
Contact our Lexington office for a free consultation.