Ohio lawmakers are in “Legislative Limbo” in the American Tort Reform Association’s 2026 Legislative HeatCheck report as they weigh a mixed civil justice agenda this session — one bill would drive up medical malpractice costs, while two others aim to rein in lawsuit abuse.
“Ohio lawmakers are pulling in two different directions this year,” said Lauren Sheets Jarrell, ATRA’s vice president and counsel for civil justice policy. “One bill would drive up medical liability costs for doctors and hospitals across the state while two others would make Ohio’s legal climate more predictable by cracking down on public nuisance abuse and on stale lawsuits. Which bills reach the governor’s desk will decide whether Ohio moves forward or backward this year.”
ATRA reports that one of the positive bills lawmakers are considering, HB 126, would prohibit public nuisance lawsuits over lawful products. Public nuisance is a legal theory originally intended to address things like blocking a road or polluting a river. However, it’s been expanded far beyond its original intent such that merely selling an everyday product can create virtually unlimited liability, as lawyers sue companies for allegedly causing various societal harms. The House passed the bill in May 2025 and has been pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee since. It also aims to codify the Ohio Supreme Court’s ruling in Trumbull County v. Purdue Pharmawhich held that counties can’t use public nuisance law to sue pharmaceutical companies when Ohio’s product liability law already covers the claim.
“This bill would provide a crucial protection for businesses that otherwise might be targeted by contingency-fee lawyers for manufacturing lawful products,” Sheets Jarrell said. “Prohibiting public nuisance lawsuits related to lawful products would create a fairer, more predictable system where cases are based on clear, individual harm rather than overly broad, vague claims.”
Another reform, SB 157, would shorten Ohio’s deadline to sue over a broken written contract from six years to four, and over a broken spoken contract from four years to two, while letting parties set their own deadline in writing, up to 30 years. The Senate passed the bill May 20 and it now awaits action in the House Judiciary Committee.
“Shortening these deadlines doesn’t take away anyone’s right to sue — it just pushes claims forward while the evidence is still fresh, instead of years later when records are gone and memories have faded,” Sheets Jarrell said.
SB 292 would raise the state’s limits on certain subjectivelawsuit payouts in medical malpractice and other injury cases, and tie those limits to inflation so they climb automatically over time. ATRA says the change would add cost and uncertainty to Ohio’s medical liability system, threatening access to affordable care. The bill has been pending in the Senate Judiciary Committee since October, with hearings in March and May but no vote.
“Higher, automatically rising damage caps mean more risk exposure for doctors and hospitals, which drives up malpractice insurance for providers and health care costs for everyone,” Sheets Jarrell said.
Recent data shows that excessive litigation costs Ohio families nearly $5,790 a year in a “tort tax” for a family of four, or $1,447 per person — enough to buy roughly 78 Ohio State Buckeyes football tickets, according to ATRA’s report. Excessive tort costs also contribute to the loss of 144,935 jobs and $17.2 billion in economic output statewide each year, along with $883 million in lost state government revenue.
Ohio is in “Legislative Limbo” — a category formerly known as the “Heat Watch,” where the state also landed in 2025 — alongside California, Michigan and New York in the 2026 Legislative HeatCheck. The full report is available at heatcheck.atra.org.
