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★ Oklahoma · head & brain

Head & brain settlements
in Oklahoma.

By Reviewed by Abd Shanti, Founder9 min read

Since Beason in 2019, brain injury awards in Oklahoma are not trimmed by a noneconomic cap. Several of the state’s recent brain injury appeals come from hospital care, where the fight is over how negligence can be proved when the patient cannot say what happened.

Facts that decide a head & brain claim in Oklahoma

Cap on pain and sufferingThe statutory $350,000 noneconomic cap was struck down in 2019 as an unconstitutional special law.Beason v. I. E. Miller Services (Okla. 2019), holding 23 O.S. § 61.2(B)-(F) void
Res ipsa loquiturRaises a rebuttable inference of negligence that lets a plaintiff reach the jury; where the evidence is conflicting, whether it applies is a question for the jury.Smith v. Hines (Okla. 2011), applied in Rogers v. Mercy Health Center (Okla. Civ. App. 2014)
COVID-19 immunityProviders treating during the COVID-19 emergency are immune from ordinary negligence claims under Oklahoma’s COVID-19 liability act; only gross negligence or willful misconduct can proceed.63 O.S. § 6406; Burgess v. Integris Health Edmond (Okla. 2026)
Deadline to sueTwo years for an action for injury to the rights of another not arising on contract.12 O.S. § 95(A)(3), as applied in Hough Oilfield Service v. Newton, 2017 OK CIV APP 31
Fault ruleYour own negligence does not bar recovery unless it is of greater degree than the defendants’ negligence, so a 51% share bars you and a smaller share reduces the award.23 O.S. § 13, as quoted in Edwards v. McKee (Okla. Civ. App. 2003)
united states · sister site
Your head & brain claim in Oklahoma. See the number for your own case.

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★ OK · reported head & brain outcomes

What Oklahoma courts have awarded.

Real Oklahoma decisions and verdicts, each linked to the court record or official report.

  • Rogers v. Mercy Health Center
    Oklahoma Court of Civil Appeals · 2014
    Defense verdict reversed, new trial ordered

    A patient vomited and suffered a massive aspiration during her transfer from a medical floor to intensive care, and later died. Her family argued that patients do not ordinarily suffer irreversible brain damage while being moved within a hospital. The jury found for the hospital, but the appeals court ordered a new trial because the res ipsa loquitur instruction was wrongly refused.

  • Burgess v. Integris Health Edmond
    Oklahoma Supreme Court · 2026
    Verdict for the parents reversed

    Parents won a jury verdict against a hospital, an emergency physicians group, and a doctor over their son’s care. The Supreme Court held the providers were immune from ordinary negligence under the COVID-19 liability act and that the trial court should have directed a verdict on that ground.

★ OK · head & brain · in practice

What changes the number here.

What actually moves a head & brain settlement in Oklahoma.

  1. 1

    Hospital brain injury cases often turn on inference. The patient in Rogers could not explain what happened during the transfer; res ipsa loquitur is the doctrine that lets a jury infer negligence from the fact that such harm does not ordinarily happen with proper care.

  2. 2

    Timing matters for care given during the pandemic. Burgess shows that Oklahoma’s COVID-19 liability act can wipe out a jury verdict built on ordinary negligence, leaving only claims of gross negligence or willful misconduct.

  3. 3

    Outside those special rules, the absence of a cap since Beason means a serious brain injury is valued on its full effect, which requires detailed evidence of future care and lost earning capacity.

★ OK · statute of limitations
2 years from date of injury

Okla. Stat. tit. 12, § 95

★ OK · fault rule
Modified comparative, 51% bar

Modified comparative, recovery barred at 51% claimant fault.

★ OK · caps

What caps recovery.

Statutory caps that may bear on a head & brain settlement in Oklahoma.

★ head & brain · same region & fault regime

Compare to like jurisdictions.

How Oklahoma's fault rule and limitation period compare to jurisdictions in the same US region and to those running the same fault rule for head & brain claims.

JurisdictionFault ruleLimitationHead & brain page
Oklahoma · you are hereModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injury—
ArizonaPure comparative negligence2 years from date of injuryAZ · head & brain →
New MexicoPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryNM · head & brain →
OregonModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryOR · head & brain →
PennsylvaniaModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryPA · head & brain →
South CarolinaModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injurySC · head & brain →
TexasModified comparative, 51% bar2 years from date of injuryTX · head & brain →
Rhode IslandPure comparative negligence3 years from date of injuryRI · head & brain →
South DakotaSlight versus gross negligence3 years from date of injurySD · head & brain →
TennesseeModified comparative, 50% bar1 year from date of injury, among the shortest in the USTN · head & brain →
UtahModified comparative, 50% bar4 years for personal injury; 2 years for medical malpracticeUT · head & brain →
VermontModified comparative, 51% bar3 years from date of injuryVT · head & brain →
VirginiaPure contributory negligence2 years from date of injuryVA · head & brain →
★ OK · head & brain · frequently asked

Common questions.

Each answer is independently coherent and references the relevant statute or authority document.

united states · sister site
Hurt in a car crash in Oklahoma? See what your own claim could be worth.

FairSettlement, our US sister site, gives you a free estimate in about two minutes. No cost and no obligation.

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Sources

Checked 2026-09-28.

★ all of OK
Oklahoma overview

Fault rule, statute, caps, and key facts for Oklahoma as a whole.

★ national frame
Head & brain in United States

Head & brain band structure and severity tiers at the US level.

★ all 15 countries
Head & brain · everywhere

Cross-jurisdiction comparison of head & brain bands.

★ editorial note

Figures on this page are not quotes for any specific case. For representation, consult an attorney admitted in Oklahoma. See /methodology, /sources, and /disclaimer.