How much compensation can you get for medical negligence?

Question

José Manuel Alburquerque · Accepted Answer

There is no fixed amount and no legal cap. Compensation is paid for the harm that is proved and, to calculate it, judges and the public authorities usually take as a guide the statutory compensation scale for road traffic accidents (the “baremo”), which is updated every year. The factors that carry most weight are the days it takes to recover, the after-effects, the expenses and the earnings lost, so the figures range from modest sums for minor injuries to several million euros for the most serious ones. If the negligence lay in failing to inform the patient of a risk or in diagnosing too late, normally only a percentage of the harm is paid. How it is calculated The scale is the set of tables the law uses to value the injuries caused in road traffic accidents. Outside such accidents it is not binding. Judges use it as a guide and may depart from it in order to achieve full compensation. In the public health service, the law allows the public authorities to use it as a reference. There is no specific scale for healthcare, although one has been announced for years. The road traffic scale values the following items, among others: The days it takes to recover or for the after-effects to stabilise. Each day is worth a set amount, which is higher the more you were prevented from going about your normal life. The after-effects, which are the injuries that remain for life and are valued in points according to their seriousness and the age of the injured person. Aesthetic harm (disfigurement), for scars or other visible changes that remain. Non-pecuniary damage for loss of quality of life, when the after-effects prevent you from doing things you used to do. Medical and rehabilitation costs, prostheses, adapting your home or car and help from another person if you need it. Loss of earnings (“lucro cesante”), the income lost through being unable to work or having to work less. If the patient dies, what is due to their relatives, which is calculated under rules of its own. Most of the amounts are updated on 1 January each year, since 2026 in line with the previous year's consumer price index. A reform in July 2025 also improved some items, such as loss of earnings. When only part is paid If proper treatment would only have given a chance of avoiding the harm, a percentage of the total reflecting that chance is paid. This happens above all when the patient was not informed of a risk or when a late diagnosis reduced the chances of recovery. It is what the courts call loss of chance. In March 2026, the “Tribunal Supremo”, Spain's Supreme Court, set the figure at 20 % of the total harm in a childbirth case in which the alternative of a caesarean had not been properly explained to the mother. The daughter was awarded 200.000 euros. Interest and limits If an insurer is paying and is late without a justified reason, it also owes interest, normally from the date of the harm, which after the first two years is at least 20 % a year. In lengthy court cases it can end up exceeding the compensation itself. The public authorities calculate the compensation as at the date of the injury and update it to the date of their decision. If they are then slow to pay it, they owe interest. The insurer pays up to the limit of its policy. Anything above that limit is owed by the doctor or the clinic.