Recent North Carolina News
January 2025 Newsletter
Georgia Governor gathers public support for liability reform After years of false starts and competing priorities, Georgia Governor Brian Kemp is reviving efforts to address medical liability reform and its impact on costs for Georgia patients. Speaking at an annual...
North Carolina anticipating need for realistic AI protections
As North Carolina’s health care systems increasingly expand their use of artificial intelligence, state leaders say they want to pioneer policy to regulate the rapidly evolving technology. The efforts would be some of the first steps toward placing guardrails on AI...
September 2024 Newsletter
Liability, workforce changes needed to reach rural New Mexico patients A recent policy report from Think New Mexico lays out an ambitious roadmap to tackle the state's health care workforce shortages, focused on improving access to care and reducing meritless...
Current Medical Liability Laws
| Damage Caps | In 2011, North Carolina enacted a $500,000 noneconomic damages cap for all claims brought by all parties arising out of the same professional services. This cap is indexed every three years for inflation starting on January 1, 2014. ($656,730 in 2023). There shall be no cap if the trier of fact finds both that (1) the plaintiff suffered disfigurement, loss of use of part of the body, permanent injury or death; and (2) the defendant’s acts or failures, which are the proximate cause of the plaintiff’s injuries, were committed in reckless disregard of the rights of others, grossly negligent, fraudulent, intentional or with malice. |
| Joint Liability Reform | No. Each defendant is jointly and severally liable, except if a plaintiff’s failure to use ordinary care was a proximate cause of his or her injury, the plaintiff may not recover unless the case involves willful or wanton conduct by defendants. North Carolina General Statutes § 1B-2. Brewer v. Harris, 279 N.C. 288, 182 S.E.2d 345 (N.C. 1971). |
| Collateral Source Reform | Collateral Source Rule applies. See Cates v. Wilson, 361 S.E.2d 734 (N.C. 1987). Hairston v. Harward, 371 N.C. 647 (N.C. 2018). |
| Attorney Fees Limited | No |
| Periodic Payments Permitted | No |