The Florida High Court Overturns Medical Malpractice Damages Caps

On June 9, 2017, the Florida Supreme Court struck down state law which placed a cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, ruling them unconstitutional. In a 4-3 ruling, the majority of the judges held that the cap on non-economic damages was arbitrary and therefore violated equal protection rights. Before this decision, if you sustained an injury due to medical malpractice, there was a $500,000 cap on the amount of pain and suffering that you could be compensated for in a lawsuit. If the injury was catastrophic, then the cap was a million dollars.

The limits on non-economic damages that was passed in 2003 was put in place to address the alleged medical malpractice insurance crisis, for which there was no evidence.

This is excellent news for the people of Florida. We can only hope it sets some precedent for our federal government, which is trying to institute these same types of caps on medical malpractice victims throughout the country.

HR 1215 limits your rights and your options

While the Florida court allowed common sense to rule the day, the federal government still believes that limiting damages caps is smart policy. HR 1215, The Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017, is federally-imposed tort reform which would limit the amount of compensation a medical malpractice victim might be able to recover regardless of the extent of their injury health condition.

Here is a link to the full text of HR 1215 and a summary of the bill.

Read more:

• HR 1215 Hurts Veteran and the Values the Swore to Protect
• How the Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017 (HR 1215) Hurts Consumers
• H.R. 1215 the Protecting Access to Care Act of 2017 Only Protects Big Business
• H.R. 1215 is Unjust, Unconstitutional, and Based on a Lie

We urge you to get informed about what your elected officials in the federal government are up to, and let your Congresspeople know how you feel. Together, we can put an end to tort reform once and for all.

At McGowan, Hood, Felder & Phillips, LLC, we are here to protect the rights of our clients who are the victims of medical malpractice and their loved ones. We will continue to fight any efforts to enact tort reform in South Carolina or at the federal level. If you suffered an injury due to medical negligence, our South Carolina medical malpractice lawyers can help. Please call us at 803-327-7800 or fill out our contact form to learn more.