Pain and Suffering Damages in Personal Injury Cases: An Empirical Study

Abstract

Many jurisdictions award pain and suffering damages, yet it is difficult for judges or juries to quantify pain. Several jurisdictions, such as California, cap pain and suffering damages or other noneconomic damages, and legal scholars have proposed ways to control such damages. Reforms and proposals, however, have been based on limited empirical evidence. It remains an open question whether components of economic damages explain pain and suffering damages. This study employs a unique data set of Taiwan district court cases and uses detailed information on the components of pecuniary damages. Pain and suffering damages highly correlate with the plaintiff's medical expenses, level of injury, and the amount requested by the plaintiff. The association with the amount requested by the plaintiff persists when one accounts for the likely quantifiable influences on pain and suffering damages, evidence of a possible anchoring effect. The strong correlation between economic damages and noneconomic damages persists in a large U.S. dataset of judge and jury trials, in which the noneconomic fraction of total damages is no greater than the pain and suffering fraction of total damages in Taiwan. Judges and juries consistently produce

Pain and Suffering Damages in Wrongful Death Cases: An Empirical Study

“…In Chang et al. (), we found evidence for such an anchoring effect. In this study, we again find that the plaintiff's request, holding constant other variables, has a statistically significant effect on the pain and suffering awards.…”

“…The research period was chosen to be consistent with another pain and suffering article that some of us collaborated on (Chang et al. ). We decided to focus on decisions by the court of first instance.…”

“…Chang et al. (), using another unique data set from Taiwan regarding the pain and suffering compensation in personal injury cases, find that career judges in Taiwan reasonably base many of their difficult decisions on objective criteria, most notably the amount of medical costs and the level of injury. Compared to awarding pain and suffering compensation in wrongful death cases, ascertaining the amount for personal injury seems easy.…”

Non-Economic Damages in Medical Malpractice Appeals: Does the Jurisdiction Make a Difference?

“…11 Medical malpractice cases can be easily compared even if they have been decided in different jurisdictions. In practice, they follow the same rules concerning liability, causation, 7 I am aware of an article by Chang et al (2013) that assesses pain and suffering damages for personal injury cases (medical malpractice and car accidents) in Taiwan. Flatscher-Thöni et al (2013) assess compensation for pain-andsuffering in Austrian courts and differences in the valuation method (per-diem or lump-sum scheme).…”

“…For the US, see Bovbjerg et al (1989). For Taiwan, see Chang et al (2013). 24 See Arroyo and Yágüez (2013 fore, one might worry that awards may vary unpredictably.…”