Clark v. Leigh (and Vice Versa)

Summary

The court held that the defendants did not waive reliance on the medical-malpractice noneconomic-damages cap by first raising it in post-trial motions, and it reaffirmed the constitutional framework protecting jury-determined damages. Applying that framework and the statute’s plain text, the court held that the cap could not be applied to a verdict combining wrongful-death damages with uncappable pre-death pain-and-suffering damages, because doing so would require limiting the aggregate amount or rewriting the statute. The court vacated the remittitur and amended judgment and remanded for consideration of an unresolved new-trial argument.