If you are pursuing a medical malpractice case, then you should know that there might be a limit or cap on how much you can recover. Here is the reason for such caps and how they are usually applied.
The Rationale
It would seem counterintuitive to place limits on injury caps. After all, if someone suffers damages worth ten million dollars due to a doctor's negligence, doesn't it make sense to award the victim ten million dollars? In a perfect world, yes, but in this world, many people feel that a few checks and balances are necessary.
The insurance companies that cover medical providers are the ones that actually sign the compensation checks. Without caps, some victims would get millions of dollars in damages, which would cripple insurance carriers. Where do the insurance companies get the money they pay to injury victims? You are right – they get it from their clients (read – the medical providers).
High settlement awards would force the insurance companies would raise their premiums to cover the increased costs of doing business. The high premiums would also increase medical providers' cost of doing business, and they would pass the costs to their patients. Therefore, high settlement awards would either force medical providers out of business (not every likely) or make healthcare unaffordable for many people (very likely).
The Application
States the limits on damages for medical malpractice cases vary by states. Here are a few things you need to know about its application:
- Most states only apply the limits to noneconomic damages. Noneconomic damages are those that compensate injury victims for nonmonetary losses that are difficult to quantify (such as pain and loss of enjoyment of life).
- A few states also place caps on economic damages. These are damages that compensate injury victims for direct (out-of-pocket) monetary losses (such as medical bills and lost wages).
- The noneconomic limits can either be dollar amounts (such as $1,000,000) or expressed as a percentage (such as 300%) of economic damages.
- A few states, such as Wyoming, have no limits on damages at all.
- For states that have caps, the jury is not told about the damages during the trial. Rather, a court will allow the jury to come up with a fire the jury thinks is adequate, and then the court adjusts the figure if necessary.
As you can see, there is a lot to know about medical malpractice damages caps other than the figures. Talk to your medical malpractice lawyer for more information on the caps in your state. For more information, contact a personal injury attorney, such as Kevin Renfro, today.
