The National Trial Lawyers
  • Home
    • Meet Our Team
    • Contact Us
    • Mission & Goals
    • FAQ
  • Webinars
  • News
  • Membership Directory
    • Top 100 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 100 Map – Criminal Defense
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Civil Plaintiff
    • Top 40 Under 40 Map – Criminal Defense
  • Top 100
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 100 Presidents Message
    • Diplomat
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 100 Badge
  • Top 40
    • Civil Plaintiff Officers / Executive Committee
    • Criminal Defense Officers / Executive Committee
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Bootcamp
    • Benefits
    • About
    • Top 40 Presidents Message
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
    • Top 40 Badge
  • Specialty Assoc
    • About
    • Shop
    • Officers
    • Membership Renewal
    • Member Profile Updates
  • Nominate
    • Top 100
    • Top 40
    • Specialty Association
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer of the Year
    • Trial Team of the Year
    • America’s Most Influential Trial Lawyer
    • America’s Most Influential Law Firm
    • Lifetime Achievement Award
  • Shop
  • Magazine
    • A-List
  • Education and Networking Agenda
    • Trial Lawyers Summit
    • Top 40 Under 40 Trial Academy Boot Camp
    • Mass Torts Made Perfect
    • The Lanier Trial Academy Master Class 6.0
    • The Business Of Law
    • Webinars
  • Hall of Fame
    • Trial Lawyer Hall of Fame

Florida 2nd District Court Says Med-Mal Damage Caps Unconstitutional

Posted on December 9, 2016 by Larry Bodine

Legal MalpracticeOriginally published on The Expert Institute

An appeals court in Florida has declared that damage caps on monetary rewards limiting the recovery amounts of plaintiffs in medical malpractice lawsuits is unconstitutional. This case was decided in the 2nd district court of Florida.

Previously, the 4th district court had also found monetary caps to be unconstitutional in a 2015 case. (North Broward Hospital v. Kalitan, 174 So. 3d 403 (Fla. 4th DCA 2015)).

In 2003, these caps were created to limit the insurance costs for Florida doctors. Since then, non-economic damages caps of $500,000 for pain and suffering, as well as $1 million for wrongful death or severe permanent disability have existed in the state.

Medical injury to newborn

The case in the 2nd district, Port Charlotte HMA, LLC d/b/a Peace River Regional Medical Center v. Iala Suarez (Fla. 2nd DCA 2016)(Case No. 2D15-3434), arose as a negligence action against health care providers during the care of Iala Suarez while she was pregnant. Suarez claimed the alleged negligence of the healthcare providers led to the neurological impairments suffered by her prematurely born child, which will leave her fully dependent for the rest of her life.

At trial, a jury found the health care providers liable for the infant’s injuries. The jury awarded damages to the infant totaling $13,550,000, including $1,250,000 in noneconomic damages. The jury also awarded damages to Ms. Suarez totaling over $9.5 million, including $4 million in noneconomic damages.

When the defendants challenged the damage award as being above the statutory limit, Suarez replied that the statutory cap on noneconomic damages was unconstitutional. The trial court denied hearing the defendant’s challenge, citing the Kalitan case. The 2nd district court concurred that the ruling in Kalitan, which extended a Florida Supreme Court ruling that removed the statutory cap on wrongful death action to medical malpractice actions, was both proper and applicable to the case at hand.

The case Kalitan relied on, Estate of McCall v. United States, 134 So. 3d 894 (Fla. 2014), determined that the statutory cap on wrongful death noneconomic damages of Florida statute §766.118, violated the right to equal protection under Article I §2 of the Florida Constitution. See Florida Court Rules Malpractice Cap Unconstitutional, Again.

It remains unclear what type of effect will the removal of these statutes have on future medical malpractice lawsuits. Part of the reasoning for the courts deciding to eliminate these caps is that many people feel that the medical malpractice insurance crisis of the early 2000’s is no longer an issue. There are many reasons for this decline – including a decline in the frequency and severity of claims, doctors forming protective groups rather than bearing the cost of insurance themselves, and competition among insurance companies that have stabilized the cost of insurance.

However, another factor that may have helped stabilize both the number of claims and the cost of insurance may have been the damage caps that were instituted.

Posted in Blog, Medical Malpractice

Comments are closed.

News Categories

Read about other Top Jury Verdicts

No thumbnail available

Things to Consider When You Sue an Insurance Provider

We are all too acquainted with insurance coverage in our everyday lives. According to Investopedia, everyone should have[Read More...]
The Rochester Diocese Offers a $147 Million Settlement to Sex Abuse Survivors

The Rochester Diocese Offers a $147 Million Settlement to Sex Abuse Survivors

The Rochester Catholic Diocese is offering a $147 million settlement to sex abuse survivors. This offer comes as a federal ba[Read More...]
Jury Awards $77.5 Million to an Army Veteran in a 3M Earplug Case

Jury Awards $77.5 Million to an Army Veteran in a 3M Earplug Case

A jury in Pensacola, Fla., federal court on Friday ordered 3M to pay $77.5 million to a U.S. Army veteran who said he suffe[Read More...]
The New Mexico Supreme Court Upholds $165 Million Damage Awards in a Deadly FedEx Crash

The New Mexico Supreme Court Upholds $165 Million Damage Awards in a Deadly FedEx Crash

The New Mexico Supreme Court on Thursday upheld $165 million of jury awards against FedEx in a wrongful-death lawsuit stemmin[Read More...]
Noom Reaches a $56 Million Class Action Settlement Over Its Autorenewal and Cancellation Policy

Noom Reaches a $56 Million Class Action Settlement Over Its Autorenewal and Cancellation Policy

Weight-loss program Noom has agreed to a $56 million settlement to resolve class action claims regarding its autorenewal and [Read More...]

#LegalNews

@@TheNTLtop100

Contact Us | Terms of Use | Privacy Policy

Attorney information and content provided on this website is provided for the benefit of members of The National Trial Lawyers and as a public service by Legal Associations Management, Inc. The website and all data are the property of Legal Associations Management, Inc. Data, including without limitation attorney information and content, on the site may not be mined, sold, or used commercially for any purpose without the explicit written consent of Legal Associations Management, Inc. This site may not be accessed by any automated program for extracting data for any use. By accessing and using the site you agree that you will not develop, support or use software, devices, scripts, robots, or any other means or processes (including crawlers, browser plug-ins and add-ons, or any other technology) to scrape data or otherwise copy profiles and other data. Unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of this system may subject you to both civil and criminal penalties.