How this estimate is built
Your medical expenses and lost wages are your economic damages. We apply the multiplier method, the industry-standard approach, to estimate pain and suffering: your economic damages multiplied by a factor of 1.5 to 5. Kentucky places no ceiling on this total at all.
A constitutional ban, not just a statutory choice
Section 54 of the Kentucky Constitution states plainly: "The General Assembly shall have no power to limit the amount to be recovered for injuries resulting in death, or for injuries to person or property." This isn't a policy the legislature has simply chosen not to pursue — it's a line the Kentucky Constitution places entirely outside the legislature's power, covering economic, non-economic, and punitive damages, in any type of case, including medical malpractice.
Repeated attempts to change this have all failed
Lawmakers have tried more than once to amend Section 54 and open the door to damages caps — proposed constitutional amendments surfaced in 2007, 2018, 2019, and 2021. Every one of them died in committee before ever reaching Kentucky voters for a referendum.
A second tort-reform attempt also failed, on different grounds
Unable to cap damages directly, Kentucky's 2017 legislature instead created a Medical Review Panel requiring malpractice claims to be screened by a panel of doctors before reaching court. The Kentucky Supreme Court struck this down too, in Commonwealth v. Claycomb (2018) — not under Section 54, but under Section 14's guarantee of immediate access to the courts.
The fault rule: pure comparative negligence
Kentucky uses pure comparative negligence under KRS 411.182 — among the most plaintiff-favorable fault rules in the country. A claimant can recover reduced damages regardless of their own fault percentage; there's no threshold at which fault bars the claim entirely.