Medical malpractice limits are caps on non-economic damages that a victim can recover in a lawsuit against a doctor. Some states have established these limits to decrease the cost of healthcare by reducing medical malpractice insurance premiums. California, Florida, and Texas are examples of states with such limits. However, some argue that these limits are unconstitutional.
Medical malpractice limits are limitations placed on the amount of non-economic damages a person can recover in a medical malpractice case. Medical malpractice is suing a doctor for providing care that fell short of the reasonable standard of care a doctor should provide under the law. A person who is the victim of medical malpractice can sue to recover damages for medical bills, loss of income as a result of the injury, any pain and suffering they experienced, and in some cases for punitive damages if the doctor was particularly negligent or acute injury. Some states, however, have placed limits on medical liability, placing a monetary cap on the amount of damages a victim is entitled to beyond their actual losses from medical bills and loss of income or wages.
There are many arguments for medical malpractice limits, or tort reform, as the practice is sometimes called. The main argument centers on the belief that establishing limits on medical liability will help make the healthcare system more accessible to all participants. The belief is that by placing these caps or limits on the amount of damages a doctor may be required to pay, the cost of health care will decrease because the cost of medical malpractice insurance will decrease.
Medical malpractice insurance is an insurance policy that doctors are required to carry in the event of a lawsuit. Medical malpractice awards can be quite high in light of the number of medical malpractice lawsuits and in light of the grand jury verdicts sometimes awarded by a sympathetic jury. In some fields, such as obstetrics, the premiums are particularly astronomical and as doctors are forced to pay these high costs, doctors are forced to charge more for visits and treatments to still be profitable, thus leading to a higher cost to consumers.
California is an example of a state that has established limits on medical liability. Under California Civil Code Section 3333.2, non-economic damages, including pain and suffering, wrongful death verdicts, and any punitive damages, are limited to $250,000 United States Dollars (USD) per medical malpractice incident. Other states have similar limits in place, including Florida and Texas. Federal limits have been proposed but have not been crossed as of 2010, and some states, including Wisconsin in a case called Ferdon v. Wisconsin Patient’s Compensation Fund, ruled that such limits on damages are unconstitutional.
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