Florida Supreme Court
The Florida Supreme Court has ruled that Florida’s statutory cap on noneconomic damages in medical liability actions is unconstitutional under the equal protection clause of the Florida Constitution. The case, McCall v. United States of America (No. SC11-1148), has attracted national interest and dozens of amici, including TCJL, have submitted briefs urging the Court to uphold the cap as a rational state policy designed to increase access to health care and reduce liability insurance costs. A plurality of the Court, however, held that the cap creates arbitrary results when awards of noneconomic damages to multiple claimants in a single lawsuit are reduced to fit within the cap. In contrast to Florida, Texas has a constitutional cap on noneconomic damages in medical liability cases.
