The Georgia Supreme Court has struck down a cap on medical malpractice awards imposed in 2005 as part of a package of legislative tort reforms. The state’s high court said the law limiting noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases violates the constitutional right to a trial by jury.
The decision applies retroactively.
The court acknowledged that its ruling might be at odds with those in other states but commented that those decisions are governed by “less comprehensive constitutional jury trial provisions.”
All seven justices concurred in whole or in part with the decision, which was written by Chief Justice Carol Hunstein. Noting that the Georgia Constitution states plainly that “[t]he right to trial by jury shall remain inviolate,” the court said that this right includes the determination of noneconomic awards by a jury.
The law enacted in 2005 provides that the total amount recoverable by a claimant for noneconomic damages shall be limited to no more than $350,000. In addition, the statute also limits awards to $700,000 for actions against more than one medical facility and to $1,050,000 for actions against multiple health care providers.
The Georgia court noted that as with all torts, the determination of damages rests with the jury and that noneconomic damages are recognized as an element of total damages in tort cases, including those involving medical negligence. According to the court, the noneconomic damages caps unconstitutionally infringe on this right to trial by requiring the court to reduce a noneconomic damages award determined by a jury that exceeds the statutory limit.
“[T]he law clearly nullifies the jury’s findings of fact regarding damages and thereby undermines the jury’s basic function,” Chief Justice Hunstein wrote.
The fact that the law permits full recovery of noneconomic damages up to the “significant amount” of $350,000 is not sufficient to make it constitutional, the court said.
“The very existence of the caps, in any amount, is violative of the right to trial by jury,” the decision stated.
Topics Georgia
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