Adam Stein Challenges Constitutionality of Cap on Damages
Adam Stein and counsel from Center for Constitutional Litigation challenged the constitutionality of North Carolina’s recently enacted cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases in Wake County Superior Court. In June 2011, the North Carolina General Assembly passed a cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases. By the terms of the law, it applies to all actions filed on or after October 1, 2011, regardless of when the negligence occurred or when the claims accrued. The plaintiffs filed their medical negligence action within the statute of limitations for their claims, but after the effective date of the new law. In their complaint, the plaintiffs included a claim under North Carolina’s Declaratory Judgment Act seeking a declaration that the cap on damages is unconstitutional. Plaintiffs moved for judgment on the pleadings on their declaratory count on the grounds that the law is unconstitutionally retroactive as applied to them.