New Mexico s highest court affirms cap on noneconomic damages | American Medical Association ama-assn.org - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from ama-assn.org Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Justice Michael Vigil wrote the opinion
SANTA FE, N.M. (Legal Newsline) - The New Mexico Supreme Court upheld the state’s $600,000 cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice suits, rejecting arguments the statute violated the constitutional right to trial.
Lawyers for plaintiff Susan Siebert argued successfully in a lower court that the cap intruded on the New Mexico Constitution’s guarantee that the right to a jury trial is “inviolate” by preventing jurors from awarding her more than $600,000 in punitive damages and recovery for pain and suffering.
The jury awarded her $2.6 million in damages for injuries suffered during a surgical procedure, although the verdict didn’t specify how to allocate the roughly $1.6 million in damages that exceeded Siebert’s claimed $936,000 in medical expenses.
New Mexico Supreme Court Upholds Damages Cap In State’s Medical Malpractice Law - 11:51 am
New Mexico Supreme Court ruled today to upholds the damages cap in the medical malpractice law. Post file photo
SUPREME COURT News:
SANTA FE – New Mexico’s cap on certain types of damages for injuries from medical malpractice does not violate the constitutional right to a jury trial, the state Supreme Court ruled today.
The Medical Malpractice Act (MMA) limits damages at $600,000, excluding punitive damages and compensation for medical and rehabilitative care. The cap applies to damages for such things as pain and suffering and a loss of future earnings.