Texas Vote Backs Malpractice Cap

Texas voters last month approved an amendment to the state’s constitution giving the legislature authority to limit noneconomic damages awarded in civil lawsuits.

Without the amendment, legislation signed into law earlier this summer capping noneconomic damages in medical malpractice suits would have been subject to lengthy litigation over whether it contravened the state’s constitution, according to the Texas Medical Association (TMA).

That legislation (HB 4) caps noneconomic damages at $250,000. The legislation also caps total noneconomic damages in malpractice suits at $750,000 per plaintiff.

In the days before the statewide vote, Gov. Rick Perry (R) urged Texans to approve the constitutional amendment. “Proposition 12 is about keeping Texas medicine affordable and accessible, from the delivery room to the emergency room,” Perry said. “It’s about attracting and keeping qualified doctors and nurses to care for our families.”

The vote was welcomed by the TMA, which had campaigned vigorously for HB 4 and for the constitutional amendment.

“The real winners of this election are the people of Texas, who can be more certain that doctors will be there for them when they’re sick or injured,” said TMA President Charles Bailey Jr., M.D. “The physicians of Texas and our patients owe a debt of gratitude to the. . .legislators who recognized the serious threat to health care in Texas and passed the legislation enabling today’s vote.”

Bailey also hailed the efforts of “doctors, their spouses, and others in the medical community who worked to keep the debate focused on the true issue—access to care.” ▪