House Bill 2128 has cleared the Oklahoma House of Representatives Judiciary Committee. The measure would include a cap of $300,000 for noneconomic damages in all civil actions and repeals the inactive indemnity fund. It heads to the full House for consideration.
Currently Oklahoma does not have a cap, but a compromise bill passed two years ago would have imposed a $400,000 cap for all negligence cases. The previous cap was contingent upon creation of an indemnity fund that would pay jury awards above $400,000 with state appropriations for medical malpractice cases.
Damages for noneconomic losses are damages for “pain and suffering,” emotional distress, loss of consortium or companionship, and other vague and intangible injuries. These damages involve no direct economic loss and have no precise value. It is very difficult for juries to assign a dollar value to these losses. As a result, these awards tend to be erratic and, because of the highly charged environment of personal injury trials, excessive.
In addition, HB 2128 also includes language stating that for any civil action arising from a claimed bodily injury, the amount of compensation which the judge and jury may award a plaintiff for economic loss shall not be subject to any limitation.
Source: Oklahoma House of Representatives
Topics Oklahoma
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