Published tables from the National Center for Health Statistics and similar sources give average remaining years by age, sex, and sometimes race. They reflect population averages rather than individual prognosis.
Adjustment for individual health status is contested.
Alternative Names:
Mortality Tables, Life Tables
Why it Matters?
Population averages overstate remaining life for claimants with significant comorbidities, and adjusting downward for documented conditions such as smoking, diabetes, obesity, and the injury itself is the productive challenge. Plaintiffs resist adjustment as speculative. Race-based table adjustments have been rejected in several jurisdictions and are now disfavored, which is a change from prior practice worth noting.
Frequently Confused with
Related terms
Frequently asked questions
Should tables be adjusted for health status?
Are race-based adjustments still used?
