Health care litigation: a common theory of noneconomic damages compensation.

In this article and the preceding article, the sixth and seventh in a series on health care litigation, the topic of noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases is discussed. The preceding article addressed the law regarding noneconomic damages for emotional distress to third parties. This article describes a number of recent attempts to expand other categories of noneconomic damages, shows how this expansion can result in tort law problems, and suggests a possible solution.