Recent rulings on the issue of Florida’s Medical Malpractice Arbitration caps on intangible damages have resulted in a significant win for victims. These caps were declared unconstitutional by Miami-Dade County Circuit Judge Jose M. Rodriguez in response to a post-trial motion by Dr. Taylor Poole’s to reduce the jury’s verdict to the level of the caps. These caps are the last remaining vestiges of the statutory scheme designed to limit intangible damages in medical malpractice cases.

For those who are unfamiliar, the Florida Legislature passed the statutes authorizing the arbitration caps more than 30 years ago in response to concerns about a medical malpractice crisis. Supporters of the caps argued that medical malpractice insurance was becoming astronomically expensive, and therefore making acquiring coverage more difficult. They also argued that verdicts in medical malpractice cases were too large. Supporters also believed that doctors were leaving the state because they could not afford malpractice insurance and were afraid of the potential verdicts that could arise. This, it was argued, would make it painstakingly difficult for in-state patients to have access to quality health care. Fifteen years ago, after years of debating, the Legislature, capped the recoverable intangible damages in all medical malpractice cases, regardless of whether anyone was elected to arbitrate their claims. These statutes, when taken together, constitute a statutory scheme employed by the Legislature to limit the damages that could be recovered for pain and suffering in all medical malpractice cases.