• 07
  • October
    2011

New Award Limits Imposed

On October 1st, North Carolina enacted its newest tort reform measure for medical malpractice claims. The new law caps "non-economic damages" awards for victims of negligence at $500,000.

Non-economic damages refer generally to losses that are difficult to quantify, such as the loss of a body part, pain and suffering. These new limits join the existing cap on punitive damages, which are intended to encourage doctors and hospitals to use more care in the future to ensure that painful mistakes are not made.

The Myth of Excessive Malpractice Awards Leads to Bad Legislation

With the ongoing economic troubles that our country has been facing, it is understandable that people would be looking to cut excessive spending. Sadly, insurance companies and medical interests have expended a great deal of effort in leading the public to believe that high awards from medical practice claims are responsible for their high insurance costs.

The medical establishment has been pushing for these limits for years, arguing large awards are driving up the cost of their medical malpractice insurance premiums. The problem with these caps are they end up hurting the people who have already been injured, the victims of medical malpractice.

Victims Pay the Price for Reform

Medical malpractice cases are born out of a mistake that is frequently preventable. What is worse, some errors cannot be undone. Whether it be the loss of a body part that was never intended to be lost or the loss of a life, the lives of those who have been injured are forever altered.

Opponents of the new law believe it violates the constitutional right to a trial by jury in a civil case. In addition, they are worried that the new cap may actually discourage lawyers from taking on cases because malpractice cases are both difficult and expensive to prove, requiring a medical expert to testify that the care provided by either the doctor or hospital fell below the standard of care for their line of work.

The new law will be especially hard on the victims of catastrophic injuries. Victims of negligence in an emergency situation will have to prove it to a jury by clear and convincing evidence. This represents a higher burden of proof. North Carolina Governor, Beverly Perdue vetoed the legislation for this reason.

Source: www.fayobserver.com, "New Laws in North Carolina Take Effect This Weekend," 29 September 2011, Gary D. Robertson