You May be Shocked to Learn That… if the hospital causes an injury, their financial responsibility is capped.
It’s Thanksgiving Day and the entire extended family is gathered together for a huge meal and the annual family football game in the park.
Competition is fierce and both sides try to outdo each other cheering for their team. Towards the end of the first half, Uncle Ted cries out in pain and is down, unable to move due to the pain in his back. Doctors at the hospital diagnosed him with a herniated disc, an injury that had plagued him before, and decided to perform a microdiscectomy, a minimally invasive procedure with a quick recovery period. On that day, however, something went terribly wrong.
While he was lying in recovery, a ceiling fixture that had come loose right above his head, crashed down and fractured Ted’s skull causing a long term brain injury. This injury rendered him unable to work and meant he needed round-the-clock care, likely costing hundreds of thousands of dollars over his lifetime. The cost of care coupled with the loss of Ted’s income, the family looked to sue the hospital for negligence, hoping to cover their medical expenses.
They were shocked and devastated to learn, however, that if you suffer an injury, regardless of how severe (even death) because of a hospital’s negligence (whether public or private), the most you can legally recover for all your injuries or losses is $100,000, which didn’t even come close to what Ted’s family needed.
(M.G.L.A. c. 231 Section 85K
