Last week the Wisconsin Supreme Court issued a 4-3 decision striking down as unconstitutional the state’s cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases. The decision was based on equal protection grounds. The court found that there was no rational basis for the cap, concluding after examining the available empirical evidence that the legislature’s faith in the cap was too speculative to justify a reduction in patient’s rights.
As reported in an article I wrote for Texas Reporter, a recent study proved there is no connection between jury verdicts and medical malpractice insurance premiums. Therefore, you might think perhaps the Texas Supreme Court would follow the logic of the Wisconsin court, and strike down the Texas cap. However, given the past performance of the nine Republicans on the Texas court, I think there is almost no chance of that happening.
