Oregon wrongful death liability cap is upheld

The state Supreme Court, however, may take up the issue to settle what the appeals court called a legal "conundrum."

By Amy Lynn Sorrel, AMNews staff. May 1, 2006.

After more than a decade of survival, Oregon's cap on noneconomic damages in wrongful death cases once again may face a constitutional test.

The Court of Appeals of the State of Oregon in March upheld the $500,000 award limit in wrongful death claims. It found, as the state Supreme Court did in 1995, that the cap did not violate a plaintiff's right to a jury trial.

At the same time, however, judges noted that the limit could possibly contradict a 1999 high court ruling that wiped out caps on pain and suffering damages in personal injury cases. At issue is whether wrongful death lawsuits should be lumped in with personal injury cases, and thus lose their award ceiling.

Doctors say the question might open yet another chapter in the struggle to preserve some form of damage caps in the state.

"We oppose any attempt to remove caps on damages, and we believe the Legislature got it right when it imposed limits in wrongful death and personal injury," said Paul Frisch, general counsel to the Oregon Medical Assn.

But plaintiff's attorney Linda Eyerman argues that the 1999 Supreme Court ruling throwing out personal injury award caps disavows its 1995 decision allowing limits in wrongful death cases. She has petitioned the high court to resolve the conflict and overturn the appeals court ruling. "Our point is what is closer to an injury case than a death case?" she said.

The lawsuit prompting this debate was brought by Lori Gayle Hughes. In 2005, a Lane County jury awarded her $1 million in noneconomic damages after finding three of PeaceHealth Medical Group's doctors negligent in treating her daughter. The college freshman died of meningococcal disease. Her mother alleges that the doctors misdiagnosed the disease as mononucleosis and that the treatment delay caused her daughter's death.