Non-economic damages
A US term for compensation covering pain, suffering, loss of enjoyment of life, and emotional distress, losses without a fixed dollar value.
What it means in practice.
Several US states cap non-economic damages, particularly in medical malpractice (California MICRA, Texas, Florida). The rest of the world calls these general damages.
Non-economic damages pay for losses that have no receipt: pain, suffering, emotional distress, disfigurement and the loss of enjoyment of life. They sit beside economic damages, which cover things you can add up, such as medical bills and lost wages. In most US courts a jury puts a dollar figure on the non-economic part after hearing the medical evidence and how the injury changed the person’s daily life.
Many states limit these damages by statute, most often in medical malpractice cases and sometimes in all injury cases. The limits differ widely: some are fixed sums, some rise each year with inflation or wages, and some depend on life expectancy or on how severe the injury is. A few states have no cap at all. Where a cap and a fault reduction both apply, the order in which they are applied can change the result, which is why the worked example below matters.
Outside the United States the same idea goes by other names: general damages in England, Ireland and Australia, solatium in Scotland, and non-pecuniary damages in Canada.
How it works in different places.
| Where | How it works | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Alaska | The greater of $400,000 or $8,000 times life expectancy in years; for severe permanent physical impairment or severe disfigurement, the greater of $1,000,000 or $25,000 times life expectancy. | Alaska Stat. § 09.17.010 |
| Alaska (health care) | $250,000 against health care providers, or $400,000 for wrongful death or severe permanent impairment. | Alaska Stat. § 09.55.549 |
| Idaho | $538,425.04 from July 1, 2026, adjusted each July with the state average weekly wage; not applied to willful or reckless misconduct or a felony. | Idaho Code § 6-1603; Industrial Commission cap table |
| Montana (malpractice) | $350,000 from January 1, 2026, rising $50,000 a year to $500,000 in 2029, then 2 percent a year. | Mont. Code Ann. § 25-9-411 |
| South Dakota (malpractice) | Total general damages may not exceed $500,000; special damages such as medical bills are not limited. | S.D. Codified Laws § 21-3-11 |
| West Virginia (malpractice) | $250,000 per occurrence, or $500,000 for death or the most serious injuries, adjusted for inflation but never above 150 percent of those figures. | W. Va. Code § 55-7B-8 |
A worked example.
Fault first, then the cap: Kisling v. Grosz (Alaska 2025)
- Jury’s noneconomic damages
- $1,200,000
- Defendant’s share of fault
- 25%
- Fault applied first
- $1,200,000 × 25% = $300,000
- Alaska cap that applied
- $400,000
- Judgment for noneconomic loss
- $300,000 (under the cap)
The defendant argued the cap should come first, which would have left $100,000 (25% of $400,000). The Alaska Supreme Court held that fault is applied to the verdict first and the cap afterwards.