Caps on Pain & Suffering Damages in Texas: Malpractice Only

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

Texas has no general cap on pain and suffering. The $250,000 caps are for health care liability claims.

The malpractice caps

CPRC 74.301 limits noneconomic damages to $250,000 for each claimant against all physicians and other non-institutional providers combined, and to $250,000 against a single health care institution. Against several institutions, the limit is $250,000 for each institution and $500,000 for all institutions together.

Not indexed

Those figures have not changed since 2003 and are not adjusted for inflation.

A second cap in death cases

CPRC 74.303 limits all damages, including exemplary damages, in a wrongful death or survival action on a health care liability claim to $500,000 per claimant, adjusted by the change in the consumer price index since August 29, 1977. Past and future necessary medical, hospital and custodial care are excluded from that limit. Summaries report the current figure anywhere from about $2.36 million to more than $2.5 million, so check the current number.

Punitive damages

CPRC 41.008 limits exemplary damages to the greater of two times economic damages plus noneconomic damages up to $750,000, or $200,000, with exceptions for listed felonies committed knowingly or intentionally.

Medical bills

Recovery of medical or health care expenses is limited to the amount actually paid or incurred by or on behalf of the claimant, so write-offs reduce the economic damages.

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