Life Care Plans in Traumatic Brain Injury Cases: Challenging Future Damages Calculations

Description

Plaintiffs' counsel frequently use life care plans in traumatic brain injury cases to support their contentions regarding damages and the projected cost of future medical expenses. The life care plan is dynamic and based on published standards of practice. The life care plan should include a comprehensive assessment of the plaintiff's medical condition and outline the plaintiff's current and future needs and all associated costs.

Plaintiffs' counsel must understand how to effectively utilize life care plans to account not only for basic medical needs but also future attendant care needs which often exceed basic medical costs by a considerable margin. Defense counsel needs to understand how to critically assess a plaintiff's life care plan to distinguish between bona fide catastrophic care needs vs. excessively priced or non-medically necessary items. Both plaintiff and defense counsel need to understand how life expectancy adjustment may impact both the duration and complexity of medical treatment.

Counsel must also ensure the cost estimates for future care stated in the goals align with the actual costs of the plaintiff's current treatment while considering a reasonable estimate of rising healthcare costs. Plaintiffs' attorneys must be ready to withstand attacks against life care plans by defendants' counsel relating to the type of treatments proposed, their long-term effectiveness, and provisions for new therapies and treatments.

Defense counsel rarely accept life care plans at face value and often look to challenge them through discovery, motions, and cross-examination. Defense counsel will also utilize Daubert challenges against the life care planning expert.

Listen as our authoritative panel discusses the plaintiffs' and defendants' counsel perspectives on using life care plans in traumatic brain injury litigation.