States With Caps on Pain & Suffering Damages
Florida had a malpractice damages cap — until the state's own Supreme Court struck it down, twice.
A cap, dismantled in two stages
Fla. Stat. §766.118, enacted in 2003, capped noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases. The Florida Supreme Court dismantled it in two steps: Estate of McCall v. United States (2014) struck the cap down for wrongful death claims, and North Broward Hospital District v. Kalitan (2017) extended that reasoning to personal injury claims — eliminating the cap's enforceability across medical malpractice entirely.
Why the court struck it down
The court found no rational basis connecting the cap to its stated purpose — addressing an alleged medical malpractice insurance crisis — and noted a lack of evidence such a crisis existed at all. It held the cap violated the Equal Protection Clause of the Florida Constitution, arbitrarily limiting recovery for the most severely injured victims while leaving less-injured victims uncapped.
An attempt to revive it, which failed
A 2024 bill proposed reviving a revised version of the cap, explicitly stating the Legislature's view that McCall and Kalitan were wrongly decided. The bill died in committee and did not become law — Florida's no-cap status remains intact.
Dead text, still on the books
The Legislature never formally repealed §766.118, so the old cap figures technically remain written into the Florida Statutes. They're simply unenforceable in court under the controlling Supreme Court precedent — a real disconnect between the statute's text and its actual legal force.
A local personal injury attorney can review your claim — many offer a free consultation.
This is general information, not legal advice, and the state comparisons above are illustrative, not an exhaustive survey. Confirm the current rule in any state with a licensed attorney there.