Wisconsin Woman Challenges Cap on Malpractice Damages

A Verona, Wis., woman is challenging a law that caps malpractice damages against University of Wisconsin doctors at $250,000.

A Wisconsin State Journal report says a jury awarded Terri Fiez $1.8 million in a wrongful-death lawsuit against a UW doctor. But state law limits total damages against UW doctors to $250,000.

For most other doctors, non-economic damages are capped at $750,000, and there’s no cap on economic damages.

Fiez is challenging the UW cap in Dane County court, the first challenge to the 1979 law.

Her attorney, Eric Farnsworth, says the law means a widow who whose husband died at UW Hospital would be significantly worse off in the case of a fatal mistake than if the ambulance had taken him to a different hospital.

A UW Health spokeswoman declined to comment.

Topics Medical Professional Liability