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The Constitutionality of Tort Reform Damage Caps

BY David M. Axelrad
February 26, 2009

Like many states, California has legislation in place limiting the amounts medical malpractice claimants can recover in noneconimic damages (pain and suffering). Recently, there have been indications that plaintiffs in California medical malpractice actions may renew a constitutional attack on the provisions of the Medical Injury Compensation Reform Act (MICRA), the tort reform legislation that has governed medical malpractice litigation in California for nearly 25 years. The focus of these recent attacks is MICRA's $250,000 limit on noneconomic damages.

More Than California

California is not unique in this. Many plaintiffs and their attorneys across the United States are unhappy with their own states' tort reform measures, and they are fighting them. So, let's look at one state's tort reform law ' California's MICRA ' and discuss the arguments for why it is constitutional under California's state constitution. These arguments will be applicable to constitutional challenges to many other states' tort reform measures, as well.

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