Texas Appeals Court Says Damages Cap Doesn’t Violate State, Federal Constitutions

Texas’s statutory limit on noneconomic damages in health care liability cases is constitutional, a state appeals court held Aug. 24 (Prabhakar v. Fritzgerald, Tex. App., 05-10-00126-CV, 8/24/12).

The Texas Court of Appeals, Fifth District, said a 2003 amendment to the state constitution precluded plaintiff David Fritzgerald’s challenge to Tex. Civ. Prac. & Rem. Code § 74.301(a), which was applied by a trial court to reduce Fritzgerald’s noneconomic damages from $11 million to $250,000. It also found that Fritzgerald’s jury trial and equal protection rights under the U.S. Constitution were not violated by the statute.

MSRA-Related Illness.

Fritzgerald ...