Indiana Accident News

Illinois Medical Malpractice Cap Ruled Unconstitutional

With many preoccupied with the national health care bill, medical malpractice lawsuit reform is a common subject of debate. Republicans would welcome federal medical malpractice caps on pain and suffering and punitive damages, though many others say that medical malpractice caps take away individual patient rights and instead benefit insurance companies.

During this debate, the Illinois Supreme Court has sent down a ruling that medical malpractice caps in Illinois are unconstitutional. The 4-2 ruling struck down a 2005 law that capped non-economic compensation from doctors at $500,000 and non-economic compensation from hospitals at $1,000,000.

The decision was in relation to an Illinois birth injury case involving 4-year-old Abigaile Lebron, who suffered severe brain damage during a c-section birth in 2006.

Almost half of all states have or used to have medical malpractice lawsuit caps in one form or another – currently 16 states have current laws limiting monetary damages while 11 states had caps but the laws have been overturned. Many of the laws are instated in order to keep insurance premiums low for doctors and keep doctors from moving their practices out of state. However, solid evidence that medical malpractice caps actually save anyone money is hard to come by. Some statistics provided by insurance companies show a reduction in medical malpractice lawsuits and in the cost of premiums for medical professionals.

It is unclear how this Illinois Supreme Court decision will affect Illinois medical malpractice laws generally or the health care reform bill as a whole.

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