Damages, Life Care Planning, and Cost Analysis
Categories of damages
Compensatory damages cover economic losses (medical expenses, lost earnings and earning capacity, rehabilitation, household services) and non-economic losses (pain and suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, consortium). Punitive damages are rarely available in ordinary negligence and require egregious conduct. Wrongful death and survival statutes allocate claims differently by state. The collateral source rule, mitigation of damages, and comparative fault affect the net figure. Future damages are usually reduced to present value using an appropriate discount rate.
Life care planning
A life care plan is a dynamic, evidence-based document projecting the injured person's future needs: medical and surgical care, diagnostic testing, medications, durable equipment and supplies, therapies, attendant and home care, case management, transportation, housing modification, education and vocational services, and routine wellness care. Each item should be tied to a physician recommendation, clinical guideline, or documented need, with a frequency, duration, and unit cost drawn from a verifiable source. A certified life care planner applies a consistent method and documents every assumption.
Traps: double counting overlapping services; ignoring the discount to present value; presenting cost estimates without a source; assuming needs persist unchanged through the entire life expectancy; overlooking pre-existing conditions that would have generated costs anyway. Rebutting a plan usually attacks foundation, frequency, cost source, or medical necessity rather than the bottom-line total.
Rule of thumb: every line item must answer who recommended it, how often it is needed, for how long, and where the price came from.