24/7 Wall St. published a special report in June ranking the states according to the number of medical malpractice cases handled and total payout from 2015 to 2024. New York tops the list in both criteria, spending around USD$5.4 billion to settle 10,662 cases.
Minnesota posted the highest average payout at USD$786,892, despite having a case load of 3.6% of New York’s. The actual payout for a medical malpractice case can be higher.
Crunching these numbers, you get an average payout per case between four and six digits. The huge cost is understandable, as medical error doesn’t just inflict physical pain on the patient but also hampers their daily routines. Calculating the final damages for a medical malpractice claim involves adding all that has caused suffering.
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Categories of Medical Malpractice Damages
A key element of calculating damages involves gathering evidence. A medical malpractice lawyer Raleigh NC (or any lawyer anywhere) knows that it’s essential to acquire as much information as possible. This is why talking to one should come after getting treated for the effects of wrong medical treatment.
Medical malpractice damages fall under one of three categories. If the malpractice action results in the patient’s death, it becomes one of five categories.
- Economic/Special Damages: This category refers to financial loss directly caused by the healthcare professional’s negligence. Examples include medical expenses (past, present, and future), lost wages due to absence, and out-of-pocket expenses.
- Non-Economic/General Damages: This refers to damages that can’t be determined with raw numbers. It includes pain and suffering and emotional distress. The figures for these damages can be subjective.
- Punitive Damages: On rare occasions, lawyers may calculate these damages to penalize healthcare professionals for their wrongful conduct. However, proof must exist that they carried out their actions with ill intent.
- Wrongful Death Claim: If the patient dies, their immediate family can claim additional damages caused by their passing. Examples include future financial support, loss of companionship, and funeral expenses.
- Survival Action: The deceased’s family can also recover damages that would’ve been considered economic or non-economic damages had they survived. These include the cost of medical care and lost income until the patient’s death.
Computing Non-Economic Damages
Getting the total damages is as simple as adding all the expenses and lost income into one grand total. Non-economic damages are the exception because of their subjective nature. As such, the calculation is done in two ways.
| Multiplier MethodTake the sum of non-economic damages and multiply it by a factor, usually between 1.5 and 5. There’s no hard and fast rule for choosing the ideal multiplier; it boils down to how grave the victim’s injuries are. | Per Diem MethodCalculate the daily cost of the victim’s pain and suffering and multiply it by the number of days it’s expected to last. Lawyers rarely use this approach, as courts tend to reject its results due to the lack of a sound basis. |
Depending on the state, the total damages may be subject to caps or limits. The Center for Justice & Democracy at New York Law School states that 24 states have statutory caps on non-economic damages (as of September 2025). Check out this resource for the full list, but here are some examples.
| State | Non-Economic Damage Cap | Statute |
| Alaska | USD$400,000 or the person’s life expectancy multiplied by USD$8,000* | Alaska Stat. § 09.17.010 |
| California | USD$350,000, increasing over a 10-year period until reaching USD$750,000 | Modernized Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (AB 35 update to MICRA) |
| Colorado | USD$729,790, can go up to USD$1,459,600 with clear and convincing evidence** | Colo. Rev. Stat. § 13-21-102.5(3)(a) |
| Maryland | USD$950,000 (as of October 1, 2024), increases every year by USD$15,000 | Md. Code, Cts. & Jud. Proc. § 11-108 |
*Whichever is greater
**Due for recalculation after January 1, 2026
The Importance of Gathering Evidence
Lawyers are aware of the challenges of proving medical malpractice. For starters, not all bad treatment outcomes necessarily point to negligence on the part of the professional. There must be a direct link between the injury and the healthcare provider’s actions.
The plaintiff will strive to establish causation, whereas the defendant will try to dispute it. Success here requires proving two kinds of causation.
- Cause in Fact: This is the direct cause-and-effect factor, in which the defendant’s actions resulted in the patient’s injury. The most common test here involves asking whether the injury would’ve happened had the defendant done their job.
- Proximate Cause: This determines whether the injury is the foreseeable result of the defendant’s actions. Even with cause-in-fact established, the court might not accept it if the injury isn’t predictable enough.
Sound evidence is necessary to establish a strong enough malpractice claim. The victim’s side needs to gather a slew of records, ranging from medical records to, more importantly, expert witness testimonies. Naturally, the latter needs to come from a medical expert who wasn’t involved or doesn’t have a vested interest.
Conclusion
Medical malpractice damages don’t just include medical costs; others include pain and suffering, lost income, and mental anguish. That said, they all need to be backed by a sound argument—something a medical malpractice lawyer can provide.
