TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) The Kansas Supreme Court is preparing to rule on a challenge to the state’s 1988 law that limits damages for pain and suffering in civil lawsuits at $250,000.
The court says it will issue a decision Friday in the case of Eudora resident Amy Miller, who filed a medical malpractice lawsuit after her doctor removed the wrong ovary in 2002.
A jury in Douglas County District Court awarded Miller almost $760,000 in damages. The award included $400,000 for current and future non-economic losses, such as pain and suffering.
Because state law limits damages for non-economic losses, the judge reduced that part of the verdict to $250,000. Miller’s attorneys contend the cap violates her constitutional rights.
Business and medical groups are supporting the law in friend-of-the-court filings.
