VT H0427

Caps noneconomic damages (pain and suffering) at $250,000 per claimant for individual defendants and $500,000 per claimant for institutional defendants, with wrongful death damages capped at $500,000 and punitive damages at $200,000 or twice total losses

Establishes mandatory pretrial screening panels for all medical malpractice claims, consisting of a chair appointed by the Chief Justice plus one attorney and one or two health care practitioners

Requires panel hearings within six months of filing, with panels determining whether providers deviated from standard of care, whether the deviation caused injury, and whether patient fault exceeded provider fault

Makes unanimous panel findings admissible at trial if unfavorable to either party, while keeping non-unanimous findings and panel proceedings confidential

Requires annual reports from the Court Administrator on case statistics and from the Commissioner of Financial Regulation on malpractice insurance rates and claim trends, with effective date of July 1, 2025