How much is the loss of an arm or leg due to a doctor's negligence worth to you? What about the loss of the ability to walk due to a medical error? North Carolina Republicans think that the maximum amount of money a jury should award for non-economic damages, such as the loss of an arm, leg or the ability to walk, due to medical negligence is $250,000. Not only that, but they want to remove the ability of a jury in North Carolina to award more than that to a person, even if the jury thinks the amount should be higher.
Under proposed Senate Bill 33, North Carolina Republicans seek to limit the amount a jury can award you for "pain, suffering, emotional distress, loss of consortium, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement and any other nonpecuniary, compensatory damage." This includes the loss of one or more limbs, paralysis, even the loss of eyesight. This bill is an attack on the rights of the citizens of North Carolina and should not be tolerated.
This bill takes decision-making away from juries. The jury system is one of the hallmarks of our legal system. The ability to have your case heard by a jury of your peers is one of our most basic freedoms as Americans. Yet the Republicans in the North Carolina Legislature want to take this ability away from juries.
A jury in North Carolina is made up of 12 people who are selected at random from the county where the courthouse sits. It is extremely difficult to get 12 people to agree on anything. In a medical malpractice case, the jury must decide whether the doctor's actions fell below, or deviated from, the applicable standard of care. Then the jury must decide whether this deviation from the standard of care was a cause of the plaintiff's injuries. Finally, the jury must decide how much money to award as damages.
The damage award will encompass two types of damages: economic and non-economic. Economic damages include such things as past medical expenses; future medical expenses; past lost wages; and future lost income earning ability. Non-economic damages include pain and suffering for dealing with the injuries, both past and future; the loss of use of any body parts or senses, such as a finger, arm, leg, eye or the loss of sight, hearing or taste; the loss of the quality of life, such as being confined to a wheelchair for the rest of a person's life or activities/events the person has or will miss out on; and the emotional distress suffered by a person as a result of their injuries. Each of these losses must be proven by the plaintiff.
If 12 citizens of the county, chosen at random, come together and make a decision that a person's non-economic damages are higher than $250,000, why should their ability to make that decision be limited? Simply put, it should not. A jury's decision should be left alone.
Senate Bill 33, being pushed through the North Carolina Legislature, is an attack on citizen's rights and our American judicial system. It should be stopped. You need to do your part.
