Does Florida Cap Medical Malpractice Damages?

In terms of Florida's laws, the answer is yes. There's a state statute on the books that sets a limit (or "cap") on how much compensation an injured patient can receive in a medical malpractice lawsuit, even if they win their case.

But in practice (at least for now), Florida's civil trial courts aren't using the cap, since the state's highest court has said laws like these are unconstitutional. Let's dive into what all this means if you're bringing a medical malpractice case in Florida.

What Are Medical Malpractice "Damages"?

In the language of the law, "damages" is just a term that refers to an injured patient's losses in a medical malpractice case. This includes the cost of additional medical treatment, income-related losses, the patient's physical and mental "pain and suffering," and a whole host of other possibilities. Get the basics on damages in a medical malpractice case.

What Is Florida's Medical Malpractice Damages Cap?

Like many other states, Florida has a law on the books that limits or places a "cap" on certain damages that are available to a medical malpractice plaintiff who has been successful in a lawsuit against a doctor or other health care professional.

As is true in most states, Florida's medical malpractice damages cap applies only to a plaintiff's noneconomic damages. That means compensation for things like:

• the patient's mental and physical pain and suffering
• mental anguish, anxiety, and trouble sleeping
• scarring and disfigurement, and
• other negative effects of the health care provider's malpractice.

These caps don't apply to an injured patient's economic damages. In other words, there is no limit on the amount of compensation a medical malpractice plaintiff can recover for:

• the cost of additional medical care made necessary because of the malpractice
• lost income, lost ability to earn a living in the future, and
• any other measurable economic losses that resulted from (or can be expected to result from) the defendant's malpractice.

Florida also uses different caps for "medical practitioners" (cases involving errors by doctors and others who provide hands-on care) versus "non-practitioner" defendants (including health care facilities and administrators). Here are the numbers:

In medical malpractice lawsuits against practitioners, the Florida statute (Fla. Stat. § 766.118) sets the cap at $500,000 in most cases. However, the cap goes up to $1 million if the malpractice caused death or a vegetative state, or in certain cases involving catastrophic injuries with particularly severe noneconomic damages.

In cases involving nonpractitioner defendants, the law caps noneconomic damages at $750,000 or $1.5 million.

Florida's Medical Malpractice Damages Cap Is Ruled Unconstitutional

In a June 2017 decision, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that damages caps set by state statute are unconstitutional.

In North Broward Hosp. Dist. v. Kalitan, the state's highest appellate court found that these kinds of limits "arbitrarily reduce damage awards for plaintiffs who suffer the most drastic injuries," because the same $1 or $1.5 million limit in Fla. Stat. § 766.118 would apply to someone who loses a hand (which counts as a catastrophic injury in the law's definition) and to someone left in a permanent vegetative state. So, the court said that the law violated the Florida constitution's equal protection clause.

So, while Florida's damages cap remains on the books, the state's courts haven't been applying it to when hearing and ruling on medical malpractice cases. A number of legislative attempts to craft and pass a new law have fallen short, but it's important to stay tuned for new developments.

Get a Florida Attorney's Help With a Medical Malpractice Case

Florida lawmakers and the state's highest court can't see eye-to-eye on the validity of a medical malpractice damages cap; that's only one example of how complex these kinds of cases are. Medical records need to be analyzed, fault theories need to be presented and proven, and teams of experts often need to be hired. Injured patients need to be able to rely on skilled and experienced legal professionals to make sure they're in good hands. Learn more about hiring a medical malpractice lawyer.