How this estimate is built
Your medical expenses and lost wages are your economic damages. We apply the multiplier method, the industry-standard approach, to estimate noneconomic damages — then check the result against whichever cap genuinely applies.
Ordinary claims: no cap, 51% fault bar
For a standard personal injury case, Massachusetts places no cap on economic or noneconomic damages. Under G.L. c. 231, § 85, a claimant whose fault doesn't exceed the defendants' combined fault can still recover, reduced proportionally; once fault exceeds that combined total, recovery is barred entirely.
Medical malpractice: a $500,000 cap with a genuinely broad exception
G.L. c. 231, § 60H caps noneconomic damages at $500,000 — a figure that has never been adjusted for inflation since enactment. But the exception is deliberately wide: the cap lifts entirely if there's a substantial or permanent loss or impairment of a bodily function, substantial disfigurement, or other "special circumstances" that would deprive the plaintiff of just compensation. In practice, this exception is broad enough that serious cases regularly escape the cap.
The cap that often matters more: charitable immunity
Here's the detail many people miss: if the defendant is a charitable organization — and many Massachusetts hospitals are nonprofits — its total tort liability, economic and noneconomic combined, is capped at just $20,000 under G.L. c. 231, § 85K. This cap has stood since 1971 and applies regardless of how severe the injury is. It doesn't apply to an individually-sued doctor or employee, only to the charitable entity itself.
Wrongful death from malpractice escapes the $500,000 cap entirely
The malpractice noneconomic damages cap specifically excludes wrongful death actions — so a malpractice claim that results in death isn't subject to the $500,000 limit at all, though the charitable immunity cap can still apply if the defendant qualifies.