New Fla. S. Ct. Opinion in Medical Malpractice Cases: Medical Malpractice Caps Declared Unconstitutional Again.
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June 8, 2017 - Dale Paleschic, Esq.
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This law alert is to advise you that the Florida Supreme Court declared Florida's cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice personal injury cases is unconstitutional. This decision, which was expected, relied on the Court’s
McCall
decision in 2014, which had declared the caps unconstitutional in the wrongful death setting, to declare the caps unconstitutional in the personal injury setting. The Florida legislature had put the caps in place in 2003 based on a perceived malpractice insurance crisis that the legislature felt was driving physicians into retirement or out of the state entirely.
The 4-3 majority, made up of Chief Justice Labarga and Justices Pariente, Lewis and Qunice, stated "We conclude that the caps on noneconomic damages in sections 766.118(2) and (3) arbitrarily reduce damage awards for plaintiffs who suffer the most drastic injuries. We further conclude that because there is no evidence of a continuing medical malpractice insurance crisis justifying the arbitrary and invidious discrimination between medical malpractice victims, there is no rational relationship between the personal injury noneconomic damage caps in section 766.118 and alleviating this purported crisis. Therefore, we hold that the caps on personal injury noneconomic damages provided in section 766.118 violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Florida Constitution."
Justices Polston, Canady and Lawson dissented from the opinion and filed a dissenting opinion authored by Justice Polston. They declared, "The majority continues to disregard our precedent’s rational basis standard as well as the Legislature’s policymaking role in our constitutional system. Under a proper rational basis analysis, the cap on noneconomic damages in section 766.118, Florida Statutes, easily passes constitutional muster."
Read the full opinion sc15-1858 now. We hope this law alert is informative and useful to your claims handling. For additional information on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice personal injury cases and the decision's potential impact on other areas of the law, please contact Dale Paleschic, Tallahassee Managing Partner.
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Luks, Santaniello, Petrillo & Jones
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