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A county judge in Georgia has rejected the cap on monetary awards in a medical malpractice case, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (AJC). The decision may have repercussions on the state’s tort reform laws; there is currently a $350,000 cap for non-economic damages.

The case, Park v. Wellstar, involves a man suing Wellstar Douglas Hospital on claims that, following a fall doctors missed injuries he suffered that rendered him a quadriplegic.

The judge in the case, Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington, wrote in an order that the limit on pain and suffering damages was unconstitutional because it gave special protections to those in the medical profession.

Arrington wrote that a cap limit would prevent large jury awards from going to people who could not connect their suffering to a loss of large income.

"The statute effectively puts substantial limitations on the rights of the poor and middle class to recovery while leaving the right to virtually unlimited recoveries unimpeded for the wealthy," Arrington said, according to the AJC. "The disabled manager of a hedge fund, a corporate CEO, an entertainer or such other person whose income is in the tens of millions of dollars has a claim under Georgia law that would dwarf the amount awarded in any case for pain and suffering."

The case may be appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia.