Former N.C. Chief Justice Burley Mitchell says it would be constitutional for the legislature to pass a cap on non economic damages in medical malpractice suits.
In doing so, Mitchell, a Democrat, puts himself at odds with another chief justice, former Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr., a Republican, who said such a measure would be unconstitutional.
In a letter to Sen. Peter Brunstetter, chairman of of the Senate Judicary I Committee, Mitchell writes that Senate Bill 33, which puts limits on medical malpractice awards, would pass constitutional muster.
Mitchell includes earlier testimony in his letter, saying, “We are aware of no binding legal authority that should give the General Assembly any pause in enacting a statutory cap on recovery of noneconomic damages in medical malpractice actions.
“To the contrary,” Mitchell writes, “the law of North Carolina...indicates that the North Carolina Supreme Court would follow the majority of courts that have addressed this issue and hold that such a statute is constitutional.”
The Senate Judiciary Committee is scheduled to hold a hearing on the malpractice legislation bill on Thursday. The measure has the backing of Republicans and the doctors who finance their campaigns, but is opposed by Democrats, and the trial lawyers who bankroll their campaigns.
