Understanding Pain and Suffering Damages in Personal Injury Cases
When someone gets hurt because of an accident or someone else’s mistake, they can ask for money to help them feel better. This money is called “damages.” One special kind of damage is called “pain and suffering.” Let’s learn about what this means and how it works!
What Are Pain and Suffering Damages?
Pain and suffering damages are money given to someone who got hurt to make up for the physical and emotional stress caused by an injury. These damages are different from money for doctor bills and money lost from not being able to work.
Pain and suffering is about how the injury makes you feel inside and how it changes your life. This can include feeling scared, sad, or not being able to enjoy life as before.
Two Types of Pain and Suffering
- Physical Pain and Suffering: This includes the actual pain from the injury, surgeries, treatments, and any lasting discomfort.
- Emotional Pain and Suffering: This includes mental distress, anxiety, depression, fear, insomnia, and loss of enjoyment of life caused by the injury.
Pain and suffering damages are considered “non-economic damages” because they do not have a clear price tag like medical bills do. Instead, they are based on how the injury has affected the person’s life.
How Do Courts Figure Out How Much Money to Give?
It’s hard to put a price tag on pain! Courts use different ways to decide how much money someone should get for pain and suffering:
The Multiplier Method
This is like a math problem:
- Add up all the money spent on medical bills and lost wages
- Pick a number between 1.5 and 5 (or sometimes higher)
- Multiply these numbers together
For example: If your medical bills were $10,000 and the court uses a multiplier of 4 (because your injury is severe), you would get $40,000 for pain and suffering.
The multiplier gets bigger if:
- You got hurt very badly
- It will take a long time to get better
- The injury changed your life in a big way
The Per Diem (Per Day) Method
“Per diem” means “for each day.” This method gives a certain amount of money for each day a person suffers from their injury.
For example: If the court decides on $100 per day, and you suffer for 100 days, you would get $10,000.
Some courts and insurance companies may use a mix of both methods, along with expert opinions and past case results, to determine the final amount.
What Judges and Juries Think About
When deciding how much money to give, judges and juries look at:
- How bad the injury is
- What kinds of doctor treatments you needed
- If you will ever fully recover
- How the injury changed your everyday life
- Your age (younger people might get more because they have to live with the injury longer)
- If you can still do things you love, like sports or hobbies
Famous Personal Injury Cases with Pain and Suffering Damages
1. The McDonald’s Hot Coffee Case (Liebeck v. McDonald’s, 1992)
What happened: Stella Liebeck, who was 79 years old, spilled McDonald’s coffee that was super hot (190°F) on her lap.
Pain and suffering: Stella had third-degree burns requiring 8 days in the hospital, skin grafting, and was left with permanent disfigurement for 2 years.
Result: The jury gave her $200,000 in compensatory damages (reduced to $160,000 because she was 20% at fault) and $2.7 million in punitive damages (later reduced to $480,000). The case eventually settled for less than $600,000.
Why it’s important: The McDonald’s Hot Coffee case helps us understand that companies need to be careful not to hurt people with their products, and shows how severe physical and emotional impact is valued by courts.
2. Grimshaw v. Ford Motor Company (1981)
What happened: Richard Grimshaw was a passenger in a Ford Pinto that was hit from behind. The gas tank broke and caught fire because of how the car was designed.
Pain and suffering: Richard got very bad burns and was badly scarred.
Result: He received $2.5 million in compensatory damages (including pain and suffering) and $3.5 million in punitive damages, though this was later reduced.
Why it’s important: The Grimshaw vs Ford Motor Company case shows that car companies must make safe cars, and that pain and suffering damages can be large when a company knows something is dangerous but doesn’t fix it.
3. The Erin Brockovich Case (1996)
What happened: A company called Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) put bad chemicals in the drinking water of a small California town.
Pain and suffering: Many people in the town got very sick with serious health problems.
Result: The case settled for $333 million, with much of the money going to the people who got sick to help with their pain and suffering.
Why it’s important: This case shows how companies must be careful not to hurt many people at once.
4. Tracy Morgan v. Wal-Mart (2014)
What happened: Famous comedian Tracy Morgan was in a limousine that was hit by a Wal-Mart truck.
Pain and suffering: Tracy had a very serious brain injury and broke many bones. He was in a coma for two weeks and needed a long time to recover.
Result: The case was settled for a secret amount, but people think it was around $90 million.
Why it’s important: This case shows how serious injuries that affect someone’s career and life can lead to very large settlements.
5. Anderson v. General Motors (1999)
What happened: A family was in a car crash and their car exploded because it wasn’t built safely.
Pain and suffering: The family members got very bad burns that hurt a lot and changed their lives forever.
Result: The family was awarded $4.9 billion because General Motors knew about the problem but didn’t fix it.
Why it’s important: This case shows that companies can be punished with very big money awards if they know something is dangerous but don’t fix it.
An Important Detail: You Can Get Pain and Suffering Damages Even Without Big Injuries
Something many people don’t know is that you can sometimes get money for pain and suffering even if you don’t have big physical injuries. For example, in a case called Miramon v. Bradley, a woman named Julie Miramon got $6,000 for pain and suffering even though her physical injuries weren’t very serious. This was because of the mental distress she felt from the accident.
Why Pain and Suffering Damages Matter
Pain and suffering damages are important because:
- They recognize that hurt feelings matter too: Getting money for a broken leg is good, but it doesn’t help with the sadness or fear you might feel.
- They help make things more fair: If two people both break their legs, but one person heals quickly and the other has pain forever, they shouldn’t get the same amount of money.
- They help people feel “whole” again: Money can’t fix everything, but it can help people get support and find new ways to enjoy life after getting hurt.
- They can be a big part of the total award: In serious injury cases, pain and suffering can be more than half of the total money a person receives.
Although no amount of money can erase the pain, these damages aim to make life a little easier for the person who was injured.
How to Show Pain and Suffering in Your Case
If you get hurt and want to ask for pain and suffering damages, you can use:
- Doctor notes: What your doctor writes about your pain and problems
- Pain diaries: A notebook where you write down how you feel each day
- Before and after pictures: Photos showing how your life changed
- Testimony from friends and family: Stories about how they’ve seen the injury change you
- Mental health records: Notes from talking to a counselor about your feelings
Some States Have Limits on Pain and Suffering
It’s important to know that some states have rules about how much money you can get for pain and suffering. For example, in Tennessee, you can’t get more than $750,000 for pain and suffering damages in most cases. These are called “damage caps,” and they’re different in different states.
Frequently Asked Questions
- Do all personal injury cases include pain and suffering damages? No. Pain and suffering damages are usually only awarded if the injury has a serious impact on the person’s life.
- Can I claim pain and suffering without a lawyer? Yes, but having a personal injury lawyer can help you get a fair amount. Insurance companies often try to pay less than what a person deserves.
- Is there a limit to pain and suffering damages? Some states have caps (limits) on how much money can be awarded for pain and suffering, especially in medical malpractice cases.
- How long does it take to receive pain and suffering compensation? It depends. Some cases settle quickly, while others take months or years if they go to trial.
- Why should I talk to a lawyer early? If you wait too long, you might miss gathering important information about your pain and suffering that could help your case.
Conclusion
Pain and suffering damages help make sure that people who get hurt don’t just get money for their bills – they also get help for the hard feelings and changes in their lives. While no amount of money can take away pain completely, these damages try to make things a little more fair for someone who got hurt through no fault of their own.
Remember: If you ever get hurt in an accident, it’s a good idea to talk to a lawyer who knows a lot about personal injury cases. They can help you understand if you might be able to get pain and suffering damages and how to show why you deserve them.
