Challenges to statutory limitations on jury verdicts in medical malpractice actions are on the rise. In two recent cases, juries in Florida and Michigan issued verdicts awarding millions of dollars to patients as a result of medical malpractice claims. These two verdicts illustrate different methods of attacking the legislative caps that states have imposed on noneconomic damages in malpractice actions.

In Florida, the jury awarded $2 million in damages for pain and suffering and loss of companionship suffered by the parents of a woman who died during childbirth, allegedly due to medical negligence. Florida law imposes a $1 million cap on noneconomic damages in such cases. Attorneys for the plaintiff claimed that the cap violates the U.S. Constitution on equal protection and protection from government takings grounds. The Florida federal district court denied the plaintiff's claims on U.S. Constitutional grounds, but referred the case to the Florida Supreme Court to determine whether the cap violates the Florida Constitution.

Michigan limits noneconomic damages in medical malpractice actions to $280,000 generally and $500,000 in certain special cases (adjusted annually for inflation), including spinal cord injury cases. A Michigan jury recently awarded the family of a quadriplegic $130 million in damages due to alleged malpractice. The verdict represents the plaintiff's estimate of the cost of caring for the child until 2077, which is presumably an element of noneconomic damages not capped by the statute. Regardless of whether or not the jury intended some of the $130 million award to compensate the plaintiff for noneconomic damages, the verdict is large enough that it renders the legislative cap on economic damages meaningless, at least in that particular case.

Healthcare providers should closely monitor developments in this area to determine whether to adjust their reserves, self-insured retention amounts or professional liability insurance limits in those states in which the liability caps are invalidated.

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