What Was Georgia’s 2005 Tort Reform, and Does It Still Apply?
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The Tort Reform Act of 2005 (Ga. L. 2005, p. 1) was a package of changes aimed at medical liability. Parts of it still govern cases today, including the gross negligence standard for emergency care and stricter rules for expert testimony. Its $350,000 cap on malpractice noneconomic damages is still in the Code but cannot be applied to pain and suffering, and since June 2026 cannot be applied to any verdict that includes those damages.
Why the legislature passed it
The Supreme Court of Georgia summarized the legislative findings in Nestlehutt (2010): the General Assembly found a “crisis affecting the provision and quality of health care services in this state”, tied to rising costs of and diminishing access to liability insurance for providers, and intended the Act to “promote predictability and improvement in the provision of quality health care services and the resolution of health care liability claims”.
Three provisions and where each stands
| Provision | What it did | Status in October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Noneconomic damages caps, O.C.G.A. § 51-13-1 | $350,000 for health care providers; $350,000 to $1,050,000 depending on the number and type of defendants | On the books; unenforceable against pain-and-suffering and consortium awards (Nestlehutt, 2010); cannot apply to a verdict that includes them (Clark v. Leigh, 2026); wrongful-death-only verdicts undecided |
| Emergency care standard, § 51-1-29.5 | Liability for emergency care in a hospital emergency department, obstetrical unit, or immediately following surgery only on "clear and convincing evidence" of "gross negligence" | In force; the Supreme Court construed it in Abdel-Samed v. Dailey (2014) and Nguyen v. Southwestern Emergency Physicians (2015) |
| Expert testimony, then § 24-9-67.1 | Detailed qualification and reliability requirements for expert witnesses, enacted in § 7 of the Act (Vaughan v. WellStar Health System, 2010) | Georgia's expert-qualification rules for malpractice cases now appear in § 24-7-702 |
The Act contained other provisions as well; the table lists the three whose origin in the 2005 Act is confirmed by the decisions cited below.
How the cap came apart
In Nestlehutt, the Supreme Court held that applying § 51-13-1 to a $900,000 pain-and-suffering award and a $250,000 consortium award violated the jury-trial guarantee in the Georgia Constitution. In Turner (2025), it vacated a ruling that had extended Nestlehutt to a wrongful death award without the required historical analysis. In Clark v. Leigh (June 16, 2026), it reaffirmed Nestlehutt and held that because § 51-13-1(b) caps one combined total of all noneconomic damages, it “cannot apply at all to a verdict that includes damages to which Nestlehutt’s holding applies”. The details and the open question are in whether Georgia caps pain and suffering in malpractice cases.
What still applies in an emergency-care case
The 2005 emergency standard still applies in emergency-care cases. In Nguyen (2015), an infant was seen in an emergency department after a fall and later found to have a skull fracture; the Supreme Court’s analysis turned on whether the care was “emergency medical care” within the statute’s definition and location requirements. The standard, and what counts as emergency care, is explained in the standard of care in a Georgia malpractice case.
How 2005 relates to the 2025 reform
The 2025 legislation (SB 68 and SB 69) addressed different subjects: arguments about noneconomic damages, medical-expense evidence, seatbelt evidence, negligent security, divided trials, and litigation funding. It did not re-enact a malpractice damages cap. The 2025 changes are summarized in the key provisions of SB 68.
Sources
- O.C.G.A. §§ 24-7-702, 51-1-29.5, 51-13-1; Ga. L. 2005, p. 1.
- Atlanta Oculoplastic Surgery, P.C. v. Nestlehutt, 286 Ga. 731 (2010)
- Vaughan v. WellStar Health System, Inc., 304 Ga. App. 596 (2010)
- Abdel-Samed v. Dailey, 294 Ga. 758 (2014)
- Nguyen v. Southwestern Emergency Physicians, P.C., 298 Ga. 75 (2015)
- The Medical Center of Central Georgia, Inc. v. Turner, 322 Ga. 129 (2025)
- Clark v. Leigh, 324 Ga. 733 (2026)
General information about Georgia law as of October 2026. It is not legal advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship.