(a) In any action for injury whether in contract or in tort against a health care provider based on a breach of the standard of care, the injured plaintiff and spouse upon proper proof may be entitled to recover noneconomic losses to compensate for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, loss of consortium, and other nonpecuniary damage.
(b) In no action shall the amount of recovery for noneconomic losses, including punitive damages, either to the injured plaintiff, the plaintiff’s spouse, or other lawful dependents or any of them together exceed the sum of $400,000. Plaintiff shall not seek recovery in any amount greater than the amounts described herein for noneconomic losses. During the trial of any action neither the court nor any party shall advise or infer to the jury that it may not return an award for noneconomic losses in excess of an amount specified herein; in the event the jury is so advised or such inference is made, the trial court, upon motion of an opposing party, shall immediately declare a mistrial. Any verdict returned which includes an award for noneconomic losses in an amount greater than that permitted herein shall be reduced by the trial court to an amount which will include an award of noneconomic losses no greater than that permitted herein or to such lesser sums as the trial court deems appropriate in accordance with prevailing standards for reducing excessive verdicts.
(Acts 1987, No. 87-189, p. 261, §5.)
Notes of Decisions
Moore v. Mobile Infirmary Ass'n, 592 So. 2d 156 (Ala. 1991).
· cites it 43× “Section 6-5-544(a) defines "noneconomic loss" as "losses to compensate for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, loss of consortium and other nonpecuniary damage.”
Henderson by Hartsfield v. Alabama Power, 627 So. 2d 878 (Ala. 1993).
· cites it 12× “There was no suggestion in Moore that the Court should rewrite § 6-5-544 to make it a limitation on punitive damages alone if the Court found that the limitation on nonpecuniary compensatory damages violated the plaintiff's right to jury trial.”
Smith v. Schulte, 671 So. 2d 1334 (Ala. 1995).
· cites it 12× “1991), in which four Justices of this Court concluded that Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-544(b), [1] violated the equal protection guarantee arising under the Alabama Constitution.”
Mobile Infirmary Med. Ctr. v. Hodgen, 884 So. 2d 801 (Ala. 2003).
· cites it 7× “Mobile Infirmary next invites this Court to revive § 6-5-544(b), Ala.Code 1975, which, at one time, placed a $400,000 cap on the noneconomic damages that could be awarded in a medical-malpractice case.”
Mobile Infirmary Ass'n v. Tyler, 981 So. 2d 1077 (Ala. 2007).
· cites it 7× “Hodgen, supra , this Court rejected a similar argument to revive the damages limitation imposed by § 6-5-544, Ala.Code 1975, a companion statute to § 6-5-547.”
Marsh v. Green, 782 So. 2d 223 (Ala. 2000).
· cites it 2× “1991) (discussing Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-544(b) (plurality)).”
Crutcher v. Williams, 12 So. 3d 631 (Ala. 2009).
“§ 6-5-544, Ala.Code 1975 (“In any action for injury whether in contract or in tort against a health care provider based on a breach of the standard of care, the injured plaintiff .”
Smith v. Printup, 866 P.2d 985 (Kan. 1993).
“1991), that Ala. Code, § 6-5-544(b) (1975), which limited to $400,000 the amount of “non-economic” damages recoverable in a medical malpractice action, violated the plaintiff’s right to trial by jury as guaranteed by art.”
Life Ins. Co. of Georgia v. Johnson, 684 So. 2d 685 (Ala. 1996).
“1991), this Court held that § 6-5-544(b), Ala.Code 1975, which limited the amount of "noneconomic" damages recoverable in a medical malpractice action, violated the right to trial by jury as guaranteed by Article I, § 11, of the Alabama Constitution 1901.”
Mut. Assur., Inc. v. Schulte, 970 So. 2d 292 (Ala. 2007).
“1991) (declaring § 6-5-544(b) unconstitutional). In September 2005, the trial court denied MAI's motion for a summary judgment.”
Ex Parte Wooden, 670 So. 2d 892 (Ala. 1995).
“1991) (plurality concluding that Ala.Code 1975, 6-5-544(b), which limited to $400,000 the amount recoverable for noneconomic loss in actions against medical providers, violated state equal protection guarantee).”
— Ala. Code § 6-5-544(a) — 1 case
Moore v. Mobile Infirmary Ass'n, 592 So. 2d 156 (Ala. 1991).
“Section 6-5-544(a) defines "noneconomic loss" as "losses to compensate for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, loss of consortium and other nonpecuniary damage.”
— Ala. Code § 6-5-544(b) — 10 cases
Moore v. Mobile Infirmary Ass'n, 592 So. 2d 156 (Ala. 1991).
“Section 6-5-544(a) defines "noneconomic loss" as "losses to compensate for pain, suffering, inconvenience, physical impairment, disfigurement, loss of consortium and other nonpecuniary damage.”
Henderson by Hartsfield v. Alabama Power, 627 So. 2d 878 (Ala. 1993).
“There was no suggestion in Moore that the Court should rewrite § 6-5-544 to make it a limitation on punitive damages alone if the Court found that the limitation on nonpecuniary compensatory damages violated the plaintiff's right to jury trial.”
Smith v. Schulte, 671 So. 2d 1334 (Ala. 1995).
“1991), in which four Justices of this Court concluded that Ala.Code 1975, § 6-5-544(b), [1] violated the equal protection guarantee arising under the Alabama Constitution.”
Mobile Infirmary Med. Ctr. v. Hodgen, 884 So. 2d 801 (Ala. 2003).
“Mobile Infirmary next invites this Court to revive § 6-5-544(b), Ala.Code 1975, which, at one time, placed a $400,000 cap on the noneconomic damages that could be awarded in a medical-malpractice case.”
Mobile Infirmary Ass'n v. Tyler, 981 So. 2d 1077 (Ala. 2007).
“Hodgen, supra , this Court rejected a similar argument to revive the damages limitation imposed by § 6-5-544, Ala.Code 1975, a companion statute to § 6-5-547.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the
Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and
treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.