A recent amendment to Washington’s Commercial Electronic Mail Act (CEMA), scheduled to take effect on June 11, 2026, has prompted a surge of class action filings. The amendment revises the statutory standard for actionable violations and reduces statutory damages, spurring plaintiffs to file under the current, more plaintiff-friendly framework before the change becomes law.
Hospitals and health systems are familiar with traditional medical malpractice cases, but as healthcare is increasingly seen as a business, healthcare providers need to understand the potential for, and limitations of claims brought under the guise of consumer protection laws.
Consumer protection laws can be tempting causes of action for individuals who believe they have been wronged by the healthcare system. Unlike medical malpractice claims, which require expert testimony and may include damages caps, consumer protection statutes often include treble damages, punitive damages, and attorneys’ fees. Consumer protection laws may also offer injunctive relief as a remedy, do not require a plaintiff to prove causation or damages, and have the potential for class action lawsuits. To prevent plaintiffs from reframing a negligence case to sidestep the limitations of medical malpractice cases, some courts and states have drawn boundaries between consumer protection and medical malpractice cases.
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