As used in this Part: (a) "Past damages" means damages that have accrued when the damages findings are made. (b) "Future damages" includes all damages which the trier of fact finds will accrue after the damages findings are made, including, without limitation, damages for future medical or health treatment, care or custody, loss of future earnings, loss of bodily function, future pain and suffering, and future physical impairment and inconvenience.
2-1703.Past/Future Damages.
Article II. Civil Practice · Part 17. Healing Art Malpractice · Not amended since adoption on record · Last verified July 20, 2026
In one sentenceSection 2-1703 distinguishes “past damages,” which have already accrued when the damages findings are made, from “future damages,” the losses the trier of fact finds will accrue afterward.
Full Text of 735 ILCS 5/2-1703
Plain-English Summary
Section 2-1703 draws a timing line through a medical malpractice damages award. “Past damages” are the damages that have accrued by the time the fact finder makes its damages findings — the losses already suffered as of that moment.
“Future damages” cover everything the trier of fact finds will accrue after that point. The statute lists examples without limiting the category: future medical or health treatment, care, or custody; loss of future earnings; loss of bodily function; future pain and suffering; and future physical impairment and inconvenience.
The distinction matters because other provisions in this Part and elsewhere in the Code treat past and future damages differently. Section 2-1703 does not itself set those rules; it supplies the vocabulary the rest of the framework depends on.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are “past damages” under Illinois’s medical malpractice statute?
Damages that have already accrued by the time the trier of fact makes its damages findings.
What are “future damages” under Section 2-1703?
All damages the trier of fact finds will accrue after the damages findings are made, including future medical or health treatment, care or custody, loss of future earnings, loss of bodily function, and future pain, suffering, impairment, and inconvenience.
Is the list of future damages in Section 2-1703 exhaustive?
No. The statute introduces its examples with “including, without limitation,” so the listed categories illustrate future damages without closing off others the trier of fact might find.
Does Section 2-1703 set the amount of damages a plaintiff can recover?
No. It defines the past/future distinction only; it does not cap, calculate, or award any amount.
Why does the timing of a damages finding matter under this section?
Because the moment the fact finder makes its damages findings is the dividing line the statute uses: everything accrued by then is a past damage, and everything expected to accrue afterward is a future damage.
Amendment History
(Source: P.A. 84-7.)
Source & verification. Section text and amendment history are
reproduced verbatim from the Illinois Compiled Statutes, published by the
Illinois Compiled Statutes, Illinois General Assembly / Legislative Reference Bureau. Last verified July 20, 2026.
· Official source
Also known as: past damages future damages IllinoisSection 2-1703 Illinoismedical malpractice damages Illinoisfuture medical expenses Illinois statute