Medical Malpractice Caps

Despite all of our legal system's problems, it is arguably the greatest administer of justice in current existence. Those who break the laws are held accountable for their actions, as are those who are responsible for another person's injury. But many personal injury attorneys claim that if supporters of medical malpractice caps get their way, victims of injuries will robbed of the justice we they now enjoy.

In Florida, the medical malpractice cap is currently restricted to non-economic damages. The 2003 law that put this limit into effect has substantially limited the recovery of malpractice victims. For non-economic damages, the cap is currently at $500,000.

To understand the implications for victims, you must first understand the difference between non-economic damages and economic damages. These are the two types of financial compensation available to individuals in personal injury law suits. Economic damages are purely losses of a financial nature, like medical bills, lost wages, and lost future income. These are usually pretty easy to calculate because we're dealing with real numbers and physical data. On the other hand, non-economic damages are a different story. With this form of injury compensation, value is much more difficult to determine. This is because the compensation assesses injury of a subjective, abstract nature -- such as pain and suffering, mental anguish, and physical impairment. It's not hard to imagine why calculating the value of a lost salary is easier than calculating the value of a lost limb.

In states that don't have malpractice caps, a jury deliberates to determine how much a particular injury is worth in compensation. After an injury lawyer presents the evidence, real jurors sit down, assess the injury, discuss the evidence, and conclude what they believe to be an accurate value of the inflicted injury. This seems fair, and makes perfect sense.

However, in states that have imposed caps, there is an entirely different process for valuing injury compensation. In these states, it's a judge who determines the value of an injury -- in accordance with legislative limits on the dollar amount awarded. It doesn't matter how severe the injury, nor how culpable the responsible doctor, the cap prevents victims from completely recouping their losses.