States With Caps on Pain & Suffering Damages

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Nevada is uncapped for ordinary injuries. Its noneconomic cap applies to health care professional negligence, and it rises every January until 2028.

No general cap

Nevada does not cap compensatory damages in general personal injury cases. In an ordinary injury case, such as a car crash or a fall, the jury decides pain and suffering without a statutory ceiling.

The malpractice cap

Under NRS 41A.035, noneconomic damages in an action for injury or death against a provider of health care based on professional negligence are limited to $350,000, regardless of the number of plaintiffs, defendants or theories. That amount increases by $80,000 on January 1 of each year from 2024 through 2028, when it reaches $750,000, and by 2.1% a year after that. The Nevada Supreme Court publishes the annual amounts, and the 2026 amount is $590,000. Economic damages are not capped.

Punitive damages

NRS 42.005 generally limits punitive damages to three times compensatory damages when those are $100,000 or more, and $300,000 when they are under $100,000, with exceptions such as product liability claims.

Government defendants

Summaries of NRS 41.035 put the cap on tort recovery against the State, its political subdivisions and their employees at $200,000 per claimant, and punitive damages generally cannot be awarded against them.

Fault and defendant shares

Under NRS 41.141, negligence defendants are severally liable, so each pays its own percentage of pain and suffering, with exceptions for strict liability, intentional torts and other listed cases.

This is general information, not legal advice, and the state comparisons above are illustrative, not an exhaustive survey. Confirm how Nevada's rules apply to your specific case with a licensed Nevada attorney.