Michigan Medical Malpractice Cap on Damages

MCL 600.1483(1) places a two-tier cap on noneconomic damages in a malpractice action. There is a general cap for noneconomic damages, which is essentially $280,000 plus an annual adjustment to reflect the consumer price index ($445,500 in 2017).

This general cap represents “the total amount of damages for noneconomic loss recoverable by all plaintiffs, resulting from the medical malpractice of all defendants.” Id. (emphasis added). Based on the language of this provision, it appears that the legislature has made the cap cumulative. In effect, the cap applies to the verdict as a whole and not to the verdict for each plaintiff against each defendant. Thus practitioners should use their professional judgment to evaluate whether separate actions should be filed versus permissive joinder of claims.

The exceptions to the general cap have been substantially limited and no longer include exceptions for death, intentional torts, foreign objects wrongfully left in the body, the wrongful removal of limbs or organs, or the prevention of discovery of a claim as a result of the health care professional’s fraud. Only three limited exceptions to the general cap remain:

he plaintiff, as a result of the negligence of one or more defendants, suffers an injury to the brain or spinal cord rendering the plaintiff a hemiplegic, paraplegic, or quadriplegic and resulting in the functional loss of one or more limbs.

As a result of the negligence of one or more defendants, the plaintiff suffers permanent impairment of cognitive capacity that both prohibits the plaintiff from making independent, reasonable life decisions and permanently renders him or her incapable of performing the activities of normal daily life.

The plaintiff suffers a permanent loss or damage to a reproductive organ that renders him or her unable to procreate.

Claims that fall within these exceptions to the general cap are subject to the high cap. Pursuant to MCL 600.1483(1), the cap for noneconomic damages for these claims is $500,000, adjusted yearly ($795,500 in 2017)