North Carolina Senate Considering Bill to Cap Med-Mal Jury Awards

Despite the defeat of a similar bill two years ago in Raleigh, N.C., the Senate is again considering legislation to cap jury awards in medical malpractice lawsuits.

Sen. Robert Pittenger, R-Mecklenburg, a cap proponent, said limiting these damages is the most effective way to reduce premiums, which are skyrocketing in many states and driving some doctors to move.
Cap opponents cited a recent report commissioned by the North Carolina Bar Association Board of Governors stating that passing a cap wouldn’t do much good in the state.

The measure, modeled after malpractice reforms in Texas, would broaden the caps on non-economic damages by making them $250,000 each for a doctor, hospital or long-term care facility found liable for damages. Pittenger’s 2003 legislation limited all such damages to $250,000.

All damages, including compensatory and punitive, against any single doctor in a lawsuit would be limited to $500,000.

The new bill also would limit the contingency fees paid to lawyers to no more than 40 percent, with patients receiving 85 percent of awards or settlements of more than $600,000.

Another provision would allow jurors to hear evidence about other sources of income, from their own insurance payments to Medicaid, that plaintiffs receive for their injury.

Pittenger said a federal report found that the 2003 legislation and a constitutional amendment in Texas has lowered malpractice premiums and created fewer lawsuits.

But some malpractice insurers in Texas have reportedly sought higher premiums or offered policies to physicians unregulated by the state.

The bar association’s report by a tort reform task force, completed over more than a year by 19 attorneys, determined that hard caps would likely have a negative effect on access to the courts.

Topics Texas Legislation North Carolina