When someone is severely injured in an accident or as a result of medical negligence, the injured party’s spouse sometimes will miss work in order to care for his/her spouse at home.  The question is:  What damages are recoverable for this care?  Can the spouse recover for loss of income if s/he takes off work to care for the injured party?  Or can they only recover for the fair market value of the home health care?

In Hutchings v. Childress, 119 Ohio St.3d 486, 2008-Ohio-4568, the Ohio Supreme Court held:  The injured spouse can recover the fair market value of the home health care provided by the supportive spouse, but not for the loss of income.