California, United States of America
The following excerpt is from Varela v. Birdi, D064315, D065631 (Cal. App. 2015):
Future damages are different. "An injured plaintiff is entitled to recover the reasonable value of medical services that are reasonably certain to be necessary in the future." (Corenbaum, supra, 215 Cal.App.4th at p. 1330.) "However, the 'requirement of certainty . . . cannot be strictly applied where prospective damages are sought, because probabilities are really the basis for the award.' " (Behr v. Redmond (2011) 193 Cal.App.4th 517, 533.) At the time of trial, the precise medical costs a plaintiff will incur in the future are not known. Nor is it known how a plaintiff will necessarily pay for such expenses. It is unknown for example, what, if any, insurance a plaintiff will have at any given time or what rate an insurer will have negotiated with any given medical provider
Page 25
for a particular service at the time and location the plaintiff will require the medical care.5
The above passage should not be considered legal advice. Reliable answers to complex legal questions require comprehensive research memos. To learn more visit www.alexi.com.