Docket Watch: Wisconsin Court of Appeals Strikes Down Noneconomic Damages Cap
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Wisconsin’s statutory cap on noneconomic damages for medical malpractice cases has taken many twists and turns over the past 30 years. A recent state court of appeals decision in Mayo v. Wis. Injured Patients & Families Comp. Fund has added to this seemingly never-ending saga by striking down the legislatively enacted $750,000 cap on noneconomic damages. The Supreme Court of Wisconsin will likely have the final say.
The first Wisconsin statute limiting medical malpractice awards to $500,000 was enacted in 1975. The amount was later increased to $1 million in 1986, only to be reduced by the legislature to $350,000 in 1995. The $350,000 limit twice was legally challenged by opponents in 2000 and 2001 and upheld both times by the court of appeals.
In 2005, the Supreme Court of Wisconsin struck down the statute holding that the $350,000 limit on noneconomic damages violated the equal protection clause of the Wisconsin Constitution in Ferdon ex. rel. Petrucelli v. Wisconsin Patients Comp. Fund. According to the Ferdon court the cap created two classifications of victims: 1) the most severely injured who are denied the full award for their injuries, i.e. non-economic damages in excess of the cap; and 2) the less severely injured victims who are fully compensated because their noneconomic damages are not reduced.
Shortly after the Ferdon decision in 2005, the Wisconsin Legislature enacted yet another statute limiting noneconomic damages at $450,000. This bill was vetoed by then Gov. Jim Doyle. A year later the Wisconsin Legislature enacted compromise legislation limiting noneconomic damages at $750,000, which was signed by Gov. Doyle. That statute remained unscathed until the latest court of appeals decision.
The $750,000 cap was challenged by a patient who tragically lost all of her limbs when her physician failed to properly diagnosis a septic infection. The jury awarded the patient $15 million in noneconomic damages, which was to be reduced to $750,000 under the statutory limitation. However, the trial court struck down the statute as-applied to the plaintiff.
A three-judge panel of the Wisconsin Court of Appeals (Dist. I) upheld the lower court’s decision. The court of appeals, however, determined the law was unconstitutional on its face, rather than as-applied.
Citing Ferdon, the court held that statutory caps must be “reasonable, not arbitrary, and must rest upon some ground of difference having a fair and substantial relation to the object of the legislation in order to satisfy State equal protection guarantees.” The court further stated that not “all caps on noneconomic damages are unconstitutional,” but that the current limit was “arbitrarily selected.”
Many court watchers expect the case to be appealed to the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which will have the final say on the constitutionality of the law (at least for now.)
Andrew Cook is a Senior Counsel at Michael Best & Friedrich, LLP, and is the former Deputy Attorney General for the state of Wisconsin.
Associate Dean for Academic Affairs and Professor of Law, Notre Dame Law School
Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer joined the faculty as an associate professor of law in 2005 and became a full professor in 2011. He served as the Associate Dean for Academic Affairs from 2011 to 2015. He earned his A.B., with distinction and honors, from Stanford University in 1989 and his J.D. from Yale Law School in 1994. While at Yale, he was a John M. Olin Fellow in Law and Economics and served as business editor of the Yale Law and Policy Review and as an editor of the Yale Journal on Regulation. Following graduation, he clerked for the Honorable Lowell A. Reed, Jr., United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. He then joined Caplin & Drysdale in Washington, D.C., first as an associate and later as a member, where he concentrated on tax issues, particularly for nonprofit organizations. He teaches courses at Notre Dame Law School in not-for-profit organizations, business enterprise taxation, election law, and professional responsibility.
Professor Mayer’s areas of research interest and expertise include advocacy by nonprofit organizations, the growing intersection of election law and tax law with respect to lobbying and other political activity, and the role of nonprofits both domestically and internationally.
Partner, Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
Andy excels at solving complex problems for his clients using a variety of effective strategies. As former Chief Deputy Attorney General for the State of Wisconsin, Andy Cook has extensive experience representing businesses before state Attorneys General involving investigations and lawsuits. His strong relationships with Attorneys General and their senior staff frequently facilitate the successful resolution of client issues through diplomacy and negotiations. When litigation becomes necessary, Andy effectively advocates for clients throughout the litigation process.
Andy combines his legal expertise in numerous areas of law covered by state Attorneys General, an understanding of how state AG offices operate, and vast knowledge of legal and regulatory issues facing his clients. This substantive and comprehensive legal approach is crucial to effectively representing clients before state Attorneys General. Andy also has substantial experience drafting and enacting complex civil liability reforms before state legislatures to successfully address client goals.
Andy’s main practice focuses on advising Fortune 500 companies before state Attorneys General in the areas of antitrust, consumer protection, False Claims Act, environmental law, and cybersecurity and data privacy. Andy, in collaboration with a team of attorneys, successfully navigated a client through antitrust regulatory review by state Attorneys General in one of the nation’s largest mergers of two major telecommunication companies. Andy also worked with a team of lawyers representing a large corporation involving the multistate opioids litigation brought by state Attorneys General.
Andy gained valuable experience serving as Deputy Attorney General for the State of Wisconsin where he was the second in command of the 700-plus state agency. In his role as Chief Deputy Attorney General, Andy oversaw the day-to-day operations at the Wisconsin Department of Justice (DOJ); directed the State’s litigation strategy; negotiated, reviewed, and approved all settlements; drafted and reviewed attorney general opinions; managed the agency’s budget; oversaw civil and criminal investigations handled by DOJ; and managed DOJ’s legislative agenda.
Andy played college hockey and remains active by running, cross country skiing, and playing golf. On the weekends, Andy and his wife enjoy watching their kids’ sporting events, including soccer, baseball, gymnastics, and track. In his rare spare time, Andy reads history books.