A Florida appeals court has upheld a law that caps noneconomic damages at $350,000 in medical malpractice cases when a voluntary arbitration offer is rejected.
The state’s Third District Court of Appeals handed down the ruling Wednesday, Bloomberg Law reported.
Parties involved in medical malpractice suits are allowed to enter into binding arbitration under Florida law. Arbitration panels must cap damages for injuries at $250,000, the report explained.
Noneconomic damages are capped at $350,000 if a healthcare provider’s arbitration offer is rejected by the plaintiff and the case is taken to court.
The arbitration agreement was key in the courts’ ruling, according to the report. In 2017, the Florida Supreme Court ruled that caps on pain-and-suffering damages that plaintiffs can receive in medical malpractice cases is unconstitutional.
