Georgia Supreme Court Overturns Medical Malpractice Damage Caps

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Georgia Supreme Court Overturns Medical Malpractice Damage Caps

Posted on Mar 23, 2010

The Georgia Supreme Court struck a huge blow for personal injury victim and in particular those injured due to the carelessness and lack of care of their doctors.

A unanimous Court struck down damage caps on jury awards in medical malpractice cases which limited the amount that medical malpractice plaintiffs could recover for non-economic damages (generally referred to as "pain and suffering" damages) to $350,000. The Court held that damage caps violate the right to trial by jury as guaranteed under the Georgia Constitution.

The case upheld a $1.265 million jury verdice in favor of Betty Nestlehutt, a 75-year old Marietta, GA real estate agent. Following a face-lift operation in 2006, Nestlehutt suffered from gaping wounds across her face that required lengthy and painful treatments to keep them from being infected, leaving her permanently disfigured.

The Supreme Court ruled that the cap on damage awards "nullifies the jury's findings of fact regarding damages and thereby undermines the jury's basic function...The very existence of the caps, in any amount, is violative of the right to trial by jury." The ruling makes it clear to the Georgia Assembly that any future efforts to place a cap on damages would be ruled unconstitutional.

This is the latest in a series of rulings in several states which struck down tort reform efforts to limit the amount that can be recovered by personal injury victims. It does not make sense and simply is not fair for those seriously injured at the hands of others to be told that the perpetrator can inflict unlimited damage upon their body, but that they are limited in the compensation they receive in return.

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