A. Except as provided in subsection B of this section, in any medical liability action in which the health care services at issue were provided for:
1. Pregnancy or labor and delivery, including the immediate post-partum period; or
2. Emergency care in the emergency room of a hospital or as follow-up to the emergency care services provided in the emergency room;
the amount of noneconomic damages awarded shall not exceed Three Hundred Thousand Dollars ($300,000.00), regardless of the number of parties against whom the action is brought or the number of actions brought with respect to the personal injury.
B. Where the judge finds by clear and convincing evidence that the defendant committed negligence in one of the types of cases enumerated in subsection A of this section, the court shall articulate its findings into the record out of the presence of the jury and shall lift the noneconomic damage cap.
C. Nothing in this section shall apply to any nursing facility or nursing home licensed pursuant to Section 1-1903 of this title or the owners, operators, officers, agents or employees of such entities.
D. Nothing in this section shall apply to a medical liability action brought for wrongful death.
E. This section of law shall terminate on November 1, 2010.
Added by Laws 2003, c. 390, § 6, eff. July 1, 2003. Amended by Laws 2004, c. 368, § 21, eff. Nov. 1, 2004.