Caps on Pain & Suffering Damages in West Virginia

By the FigureMyTax Editorial Team · How we calculate

West Virginia has no general cap on pain and suffering. The cap is for malpractice, and it comes with an insurance condition.

The malpractice cap

W. Va. Code 55-7B-8 limits noneconomic loss in a professional liability action against a health care provider to $250,000 for each occurrence, regardless of the number of plaintiffs or defendants or, in a wrongful death case, distributees.

The higher tier

The limit is $500,000 for each occurrence where the damages are for wrongful death; permanent and substantial physical deformity, loss of use of a limb or loss of a bodily organ system; or a permanent physical or mental injury that prevents the person from independently caring for himself or herself.

Indexed, up to a maximum

Each year the limits increase with the Consumer Price Index, not to exceed 150% of the stated amounts, so $375,000 and $750,000 at most. Summaries describe those as the ceilings; we could not confirm the exact current figure.

An insurance condition

The limits are not available to a defendant that does not carry medical professional liability insurance of at least $1 million for each occurrence. The statute also sets a $1 million backstop if the caps are ever held invalid; a Supreme Court of Appeals decision approved the caps as constitutional.

Punitive damages

W. Va. Code 55-7-29 requires clear and convincing evidence of actual malice or conscious, reckless and outrageous indifference, and limits punitive damages to the greater of four times compensatory damages or $500,000.

Political subdivisions

Against a city, county or other political subdivision, noneconomic loss may not exceed $500,000 in favor of any one person, and punitive damages are prohibited.

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