Texas Chapter 74 Medical Malpractice Damage Cap Calculator (§ 74.301 & § 74.303 CPI Cap)
Governing Texas Statutory Formula: CPRC §§ 74.301, 74.303
Calculate the stacked non-economic damage caps under CPRC § 74.301 ($250k physician cap + up to $500k multi-hospital cap = $750k max) alongside uncapped economic life-care damages, or compute the CPI inflation-adjusted total cap for medical wrongful death claims under § 74.303.
Interactive Medical Malpractice Cap Calculator
Non-Fatal (§ 74.301) vs. Wrongful Death (§ 74.303) Medical Malpractice Caps in Texas
Texas Civil Practice and Remedies Code Chapter 74 applies two completely different cap structures depending on whether the patient survived or died. In a NON-FATAL medical malpractice case, § 74.301 caps only non-economic damages (pain, suffering, mental anguish, disfigurement, impairment): $250,000 total across all individual physicians/nurses, plus $250,000 for a single hospital/nursing home (or up to $500,000 if two or more separate health care institutions are found liable), for a maximum possible non-economic cap of $750,000. All economic damages—including $10M+ pediatric birth-injury life-care plans and lost lifetime earning capacity—are 100% UNCAPPED in non-fatal cases!
By contrast, when medical malpractice causes DEATH, CPRC § 74.303 imposes a single inflation-adjusted cap on ALL damages (both economic pecuniary loss and non-economic companionship/mental anguish combined, excluding past medical bills) set at $500,000 in August 1977 dollars multiplied by the Consumer Price Index (CPI) ratio—which places the § 74.303 wrongful death cap at approximately $2.65 million in 2026.
Frequently Asked Questions Under Texas Law
Why is the $250,000 physician cap in CPRC § 74.301 not adjusted for inflation while the § 74.303 wrongful death cap is?
When the Texas Legislature enacted HB 4 in 2003, it drafted § 74.301 as a flat, unindexed $250,000 dollar ceiling for non-economic damages, whereas § 74.303 carried forward the 1977 Medical Liability and Insurance Improvement Act's CPI inflation escalator (§ 74.303(b)) for wrongful death actions.
Does the Chapter 74 cap apply per plaintiff or per claimant in a family lawsuit?
Under CPRC § 74.301, the $250,000/$500,000 non-economic caps apply 'for each claimant,' which § 74.001(a)(2) defines as ALL persons claiming damages as the result of the bodily injury or death of a single person—meaning the patient, spouse, and children share a single cap.
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