Nebraska Medical Tort Cap Could Face Test with $17M Jury Award

A federal jury has awarded a 2-year-old girl a staggering $17 million, finding that subpar care at a Bellevue hospital led to her severe disability.

The verdict issued this week could test Nebraska’s strict cap on medical malpractice awards. Nebraska tort laws cap those awards at $2.25 million. The cap at the time of the girl’s birth was $1.75 million.

A j administrator told The Omaha World-Herald that the hospital was not at fault. A spokesman for Nebraska Medicine, of which the hospital is a part, says no decision has been made on whether to appeal the verdict.

The girl’s mother, Doran Schmidt, sued the hospital, alleging that hospital workers were negligent in the hours leading to the girl’s complicated birth on Nov. 2, 2012.