Re: Illinois' Malpractice Caps Likely To Go To State's High Court
From: art fougner, md (evsono@pipeline.com)
Wed Nov 14 11:24:32 2007
Hot Potato.
Art
At Wed, 14 Nov 2007, Joe Cutchin wrote:
>
>The fox is still eating those chickens. Joe C
>
>Dean Huffman . wrote:
>> .
>>
>> Medical lawsuit limits overruled
>> Malpractice caps case likely to go to state's high court
>> By DANA HEUPEL
>>
>> Published Wednesday, November 14, 2007
>>
>> Illinois' hard-fought law limiting jury awards in medical malpractice cases is
>> unconstitutional, a Cook County judge ruled Tuesday, setting the table for a
>> decision by the state Supreme Court.
>>
>> Circuit Judge Diane Larsen found that the 2005 law violates the state
>> Constitution's separation of powers clause. The legislative branch of
>> government, she ruled, cannot pre-determine how juries can decide cases in
>> courts.
>>
>> The case in Larsen's court involved the birth in October 2005 of Abigaile
>> LeBron. Last December, her family sued Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose
>> Park, along with a doctor and nurse, contending that the medical team did not
>> act quickly enough when she began to display problems. She suffers from brain
>> damage and other developmental disabilities.
>>
>> After Larsen's ruling, opponents of the law, which became a prime legislative
>> issue during a two-year battle to pass it, were jubilant. Supporters vowed to
>> continue the court fight to retain the $500,000 cap on non-economic damage
>> awards against doctors and the $1 million ceiling on verdicts against
>> hospitals.
>>
>> Abigaile LeBron "is at least a step closer to receiving some justice," said
>> Bruce Kohen, president of the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association, which fought
>> hard against the legislation.
>>
>> "Judge Larsen's ruling provides further confirmation that despite the power and
>> influence of the insurance lobby, laws that violate the state Constitution will
>> not be allowed," he said.
>>
>> In a written statement, Dr. Rodney Osborn, president of the Illinois State
>> Medical Society, said, "This is only 'round one' in the battle to uphold these
>> reforms, which have been crucial in slowing the number of doctors fleeing our
>> state and helping in the recruitment of specialists."
>>
>> A spokeswoman for Gov. Rod Blagojevich, who said he was confident the
>> legislation was constitutional when he signed it in August 2005, said
>> administration officials are reviewing Larsen's ruling.
>>
>> Medical malpractice reform became the key issue during the 2004 and 2005
>> sessions of the General Assembly, with supporters saying high jury awards were
>> driving doctors away from Illinois. The legislation resulted from an arduous
>> compromise that crossed party lines.
>>
>> Twice, the Illinois Supreme Court has ruled that caps on jury awards are
>> unconstitutional. Backers of the current legislation believed it would survive
>> a constitutional challenge because it is limited only to medical malpractice
>> awards and doesn’t restrict jury verdicts involving other injuries.
>>
>> LeBron's family raised a number of constitutional questions in challenging the
>> law. Larsen, however, ruled only on the one dealing with separation of powers.
>> Because that provision is unconstitutional, she decided, the entire law is
>> invalid.
>>
>> Along with setting caps on damages, the law established stricter standards for
>> expert witnesses in malpractice cases, allowed some damage awards to be paid
>> over time, extended immunity to retired physicians providing free care, and
>> permitted physicians to apologize to patients without allowing those apologies
>> to be used against them in court.
>>
>> It also changed some procedures involving how the state disciplines doctors, and
>> gave state regulators more authority in reviewing malpractice insurance rates.
>>
>> In her ruling, Larsen said a previous Supreme Court decision had emphasized that
>> "we should not and need not balance the advantages and disadvantages of reform."
>>
>> The Supreme Court already has decided that caps on non-economic damages "often
>> referred to as 'pain and suffering'" violate the Constitution's provision
>> regarding separation of powers provision, she stated. That ruling "is no less
>> applicable to the present case simply because the cap at issue applies only in
>> medical malpractice cases," Larsen wrote.
>>
>> Because the circuit court case involves constitutional questions, it will go
>> straight to the state Supreme Court, bypassing the appellate court. The lawsuit
>> consolidates three cases that challenge the law's constitutionality, with the
>> LeBron suit designated as the lead case.
>>
>> "We will fight to overturn today's decision so that when the 2005 reforms are
>> ultimately upheld by the state's high court, doctors can once again look to
>> Illinois as a good place to practice medicine,"Dr. Harold Jensen, chairman of
>> ISMIE Mutual Insurance Co., the state's largest medical malpractice insurer,
>> said in a prepared statement.
>>
>> "We eagerly wait for that day," he said.
>>
>> http://www.sj-r.com/News/stories/20025.asp
>>
--
art fougner, md
"May The Wings of Liberty Never Lose a Feather." - Jack Burton
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