On March 12, 2020, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers declared a state of emergency. About a month later, the Wisconsin legislature passed and the governor signed into law 2019 Wisconsin
Act 185, which created WIS. STAT. § 895.4801. This statute provides immunity for health care providers during the COVID-19 emergency.
WIS. STAT. § 895.4801(2) provides:
IMMUNITY. Subject to sub. (3), any health care professional, health care provider, or employee, agent, or contractor of a health care professional or health care provider is immune from civil liability for the death of or injury to any individual or any damages caused by actions or omissions that satisfy all of the following:
(a) The action or omission is committed while the professional, provider, employee, agent, or contractor is
providing services during the state of emergency declared under s. 323.10 on March 12, 2020, by executive order 72, or
the 60 days following the date that the state of emergency terminates.
(b) The actions or omissions relate to health services provided or not provided in good faith or are substantially
consistent with any of the following: 1. Any direction, guidance, recommendation, or other statement made by a federal, state, or local official to address or in response to the emergency or disaster declared as described under par. (a). 2. Any guidance published by the department of health services, the federal department of health and human
services, or any divisions or agencies of the federal department of health and human services relied upon in good faith.
(c) The actions or omissions do not involve reckless or wanton conduct or intentional misconduct.
In a Wisconsin medical malpractice action that arose during the § 895.4801 window of immunity, Savannah Wren gave birth to a stillborn child at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital. Wren subsequently filed her medical malpractice suit against Columbia St. Mary’s. When Columbia St. Mary’s filed a motion to dismiss on grounds of immunity, citing § 895.4801, Wren challenged the constitutionality of the statute on several grounds. The circuit court rejected all of Wren’s arguments and dismissed the case due to the defendants’ immunity from suit. Wren appealed, again raising several constitutional challenges to the statute. The Wisconsin Court of Appeals reversed and concluded that § 895.4801 is
facially unconstitutional because it deprives litigants of their right to a jury trial enshrined in Article I, Section 5 of the Wisconsin Constitution.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court stated in its April 10,2026 Opinion that Article XIV, Section 13 of the Wisconsin Constitution empowers the legislature to alter or suspend particular common law causes of action, and that the Wisconsin Legislature exercised that power by enacting § 895.4801, which suspends causes of action against health care providers during a specific portion of the pandemic. Without a cause of action, there is no jury trial right. Because
§ 895.4801 does not violate the constitutional right to a jury, the Wisconsin Su8preme Court reversed the Court of Appeals’ decision.
Source Wren v. Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital Milwaukee, Inc., 2026 WI 11.
If you or a loved one may have been injured as a result of medical negligence in Wisconsin, you should promptly find a Wisconsin medical malpractice lawyer who may investigate your medical malpractice claim for you and represent you or your loved one in a Wisconsin medical malpractice case, if appropriate.
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