Understanding the Two Types of Damages in Michigan
When you bring a medical malpractice claim in Michigan, your damages are typically divided into economic and non-economic categories. Economic damages include tangible costs such as past and future medical expenses, lost wages, rehabilitation, and long-term care. Importantly, in Michigan, economic damages are not subject to a statutory cap.
Non-economic damages, however, such as pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of enjoyment of life, and loss of consortium, are subject to legal limits under Michigan law. The statute that governs these caps is Michigan Compiled Laws Section 600.1483.
What Are the Caps and What They Mean
For non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, Michigan law has established two tiers of caps:
- A lower cap applies to most medical malpractice claims that do not meet the very highest threshold of injury. According to a 2025 adjustment, that cap sits at approximately $586,300.
- An upper cap, reserved for especially catastrophic injuries — for example, cases involving permanent cognitive impairment, paralysis of multiple limbs, or permanent loss of reproductive function. For 2025, that figure is about $1,047,000.
What this means in practice: even if you have a compelling story of serious harm, if your injury does not fall into the statutory “catastrophic” category, your non-economic recovery will be capped at the lower tier. If your injury does qualify under the exceptional threshold, you may pursue the higher cap.
How Caps Impact Your Case Strategy
Because the caps limit the non-economic portion of your recovery, it becomes crucial to maximize the damages that aren’t capped and to clearly identify whether your injury meets the catastrophic threshold. Some strategic implications include:
- Focus on economic damages: Since economic losses (medical bills, lost earnings, future care, rehabilitation) are not capped, it’s vital to document fully the present and future costs of your injury.
- Establish catastrophic injury when applicable: If your case involves a brain or spinal cord injury, permanent disability, or other criteria that qualify for the upper cap, careful medical and expert documentation is essential.
- Timing and accrual: Because the caps are adjusted annually for inflation, the date your cause of action accrues can impact which cap applies.
- Careful settlement negotiations: Insurers are aware of the cap amounts, so they can calculate their exposure accordingly. An experienced attorney will use the cap information to evaluate whether a settlement offer is reasonable given the full scope of your damages.
What This Means for You as a Michigan Patient
If you believe you’ve been harmed by medical negligence in Michigan, you should keep in mind:
- You still have the right to seek full compensation for your financial losses — and those are uncapped.
- However, your claim for pain, suffering, loss of quality of life, and other non-economic harms will be subject to one of the statutory cap tiers.
- Working with an attorney who understands Michigan’s specific malpractice laws, caps, and thresholds can make a big difference in how your case is evaluated and negotiated.
Michigan Medical Malpractice Attorney
At Grewal Law PLLC, we help Michigan patients who’ve suffered because of medical negligence understand how the law applies — from the uncapped economic damages to the limits on non-economic recovery. If you or a loved one has been harmed by medical treatment, contact our team at (888) 211-5798 for a free case review. We’ll explain your rights, assess your claim, and fight to maximize your recovery within the parameters of Michigan law. You don’t have to navigate this alone.
