If you’ve been injured due to the medical negligence of a treating physician or other healthcare professional, then you may be wondering whether you are entitled to compensation for your various injuries — and further, what damages you may recover in total for your malpractice claims.  So, what does the landscape of medical malpractice damages look like in the state of Louisiana?

Like many other states, Louisiana has established a damage cap on medical malpractice claims.  For medical malpractice claims in Louisiana, the damage cap is set at $500,000, in addition to future medical expenses.

Why does this cap exist?

The Supreme Court of Louisiana in Oliver v. Magnolia Clinic clarified the purpose (and constitutionality) of the damage cap in medical malpractice actions.  In their opinion, the court wrote that malpractice insurance costs would rise and healthcare costs would increase in the absence of damage caps.  Given the state interest in moderating healthcare costs and insurance costs, the court found the damage cap to be reasonable, on balance.  Though it may be frustrating for an injured plaintiff, it is an unavoidable feature of the Louisiana malpractice landscape.

Litigating a medical malpractice claim can be quite complicated.  Malpractice insurers are famously aggressive in defending against such lawsuits, and your attorney will have to make extensive use of medical experts to demonstrate that the professional standard of care was violated.  If you’ve been injured due to the medical negligence of a healthcare professional, speak with an experienced Louisiana medical malpractice attorney as soon as possible.

As a medical malpractice plaintiff, you might be concerned about how the existence of a cap will affect your claims.  To better understand, let’s take a look at some of the basic mechanics of the damage cap, first.

Basics of the Damage Cap

Pursuant to the Louisiana Revised Statutes, section 1299.42, a limitation on damage recovery for medical malpractice claims was set.  In accordance with the statute, Louisiana plaintiffs may recover up to $500,000, plus interest and cost, for all their medical malpractice claims.  This limitation does not apply to future medical expenses, however.  For example, if you will require extensive surgery at a later date to correct an injury that was caused by the medical malpractice of your treating physician, you may recover up to $500,000 for your economic and non-economic losses, in addition to reasonably calculated losses resulting from the future medical expenses.

In situations involving a qualified healthcare provider (i.e., a healthcare provider who has joined the state Patient’s Compensation Fund), the first $100,000 will be paid out by the healthcare provider themselves.  Any amount above $100,000 will be paid out by the Patient’s Compensation Fund.

How Will This Affect My Recovery?

Application of the $500,000 damage cap can have a significant effect on your medical malpractice recovery, depending on the circumstances of your losses.  Specifically, if you qualify under the “future medical care and benefits” exception, then you may be able to somewhat overcome the damage cap limitation.

This can all be rather confusing without proper context, so let’s run-through an example to clarify.

Suppose that you suffered injuries due to a botched surgery.  The surgeon failed to adhere to the standard of care, thus committing medical malpractice and causing you serious, life-altering injuries.  By the time you file a lawsuit, you have undergone a number of medical procedures, and have likely suffered a variety of economic and non-economic losses (i.e., wage loss, loss of enjoyment of life, pain and suffering, etc.), adding up to more than $700,000.  Those “current” and “past” losses will be limited to the $500,000 cap, unfortunately.

You still have future medical care that you’ll have to undertake in order to recover (rehabilitation, surgery, drug treatment, and more) — let’s say, $250,000 in calculated future medical expenses and damages.  Those costs will be allowed thanks to future medical care and benefits exception to the damage cap (thus resulting in a total recovery of $750,000).

The future medical care and benefits exception is still somewhat limited, however, as it only applies to reasonable “medical, surgical, hospitalization, physical rehabilitation, and custodial services.”  There are numerous future damages that will not fall within this exception: loss of future earning capacity, future wage loss, and more.  A skilled attorney may be able to overcome these limitations through other means, perhaps by investigating the case further and bringing in additional co-defendants.