Does Arizona have caps on medical malpractice cases?
With all the talk lately about "tort reform", healthcare reform, and the problems of too many lawsuits against hospitals and doctors, this is a good time to address some of the questions I frequently receive on these issues.
A number of states have enacted laws capping damages in medical malpractice cases. Arizona has not. So in Arizona, an injured patient is free to recover his or her entire medical damages. The reasons, so far, that Arizona has not capped damages is that the Arizona Constitution prohibits caps. Unlike in other states, this prevents the legislature from passing a law to cap damages. The only way Arizona could implement a cap is if the public to vote to amend the Arizona Constitution to allow it. This is a complicated and difficult process, but not completely unattainable. However, it might be possible for the federal government to pass allow capping medical malpractice awards that would trump Arizona’ constitutional prohibition against caps.
That was the easy answer. But, let’s not end the discussion there. Let’s take a moment to address how caps work in other states, because there are some misconceptions. The states that do cap medical malpractice awards cap only "non-economic damages". Caps seem to range from $250,000 to $750,000. What this means is that a victim of medical malpractice can receive all of his or her past and future "economic damages", such as medical bills and lost earnings. These damages are not subject to caps. The "non-economic damages" subjected to the cap include such things as pain and suffering and loss of enjoyment of life.
Are caps fair? That can be debated. But, for example, it hardly seems fair that the person injured due to malpractice who can no longer walk, who has undergone medical procedures to correct medical errors, and who requires a lifetime of medical care should be capped at $250,000 for all he or she has and will go through.
