Ohio's damage caps apply here — but recent appellate decisions are creating new opportunities to challenge them. UC Health, Mercy, and TriHealth are among the largest defendants in Hamilton County civil court.
If you were treated in Cincinnati (Ohio), Ohio law limits your noneconomic damages (pain and suffering, emotional distress) to $350,000 in most cases, regardless of what a jury awards. Economic damages — medical bills, lost wages, future care costs — are unlimited. In catastrophic injury cases, the cap rises to $500,000–$1,000,000. Recent Ohio appellate court decisions have allowed "as-applied" constitutional challenges to the cap for the most severely injured patients.
Ohio has TWO overlapping deadlines under ORC § 2305.113. You have 1 year from discovery AND an absolute 4-year outer limit from the date of the negligent act. Even if you never discovered the injury, you cannot file after 4 years. This is stricter than Kentucky, which has no outer repose deadline. For Cincinnati cases involving delayed diagnoses or injuries discovered years later, the 4-year repose can be the difference between a viable claim and none.