North Carolina House Pushes Malpractice Liability Cap into Law

Victims of medical malpractice will be limited in the amount of money they can collect for pain, suffering and lost body parts.

The caps are going into place after North Carolina lawmakers on Monday overrode a veto by Gov. Beverly Perdue. The new law limits to $500,000 what a victim of a doctor’s negligence can collect for non-economic damages.

Doctors would still have to pay medical bills, lost wages and other kinds of monetary losses resulting from their negligence. Other payouts for catastrophic injury or death would be capped.

Republicans say it will hold down medical insurance costs and attract more doctors to North Carolina.

House Democratic minority leader Joe Hackney of Orange County says the cap hurts the most severely injured and children, stay-at-home mothers and the elderly.