Louisiana Medical Malpractice Cap on Damages – Multiple Caps

In Turner v. Massiah, 94-2548 (La.8/30/95), 656 So.2d 636, the Louisiana Supreme Court stated: “If the damage, or injury, could have been divided into two parts, one part caused by one defendant and the other part caused by the other there would have been, in effect, two injuries,” 656 So.2d at 640, and suggested “the question of two caps might have been present.” The Turner court then concluded, “[f]or one patient and one injury there is but one cap.” 656 So.2d at 641.

In Batson v. South Louisiana Medical Center, 99-0232 (La.11/19/99) 750 So.2d 949, the Louisiana Supreme Court held that three separate caps applied to three separate acts of medical negligence under the Malpractice Liability for State Services Act (MLSSA), La.R.S. 40:1237.1, et seq., where the damages were divisible into three different injuries, each traceable to a separate act of medical negligence.