Law passed on malpractice caps

By Kevin McDermott
Post-Dispatch
SPRINGFIELD, Ill. — With the Metro East area being held up as the state’s poster child for doctor shortages, the Illinois Legislature approved on Monday a long-sought $500,000 limit on “pain and suffering” lawsuit awards against doctors. Gov. Rod Blagojevich will sign it into law, his office confirmed Monday. The bill — the culmination of a massive two-year political and public-relations battle between doctors and lawyers — also would limit hospitals’ noneconomic damages to $1 million per suit. And it would impose procedural reforms on lawyers, doctors and insurance companies. At issue is whether medical malpractice suits are out of control and are driving up liability insurance rates for doctors — and driving many of them out of the state. The Metro East area, known for an aggressive litigation culture, is considered the epicenter of what some say is a crisis of medical access. The “cap” bill passed with downstate Democrats joining Republicans to push it through, over opposition from the Chicago Democrats who usually dominate Illinois government. “The long lines at the emergency rooms at St. Anthony’s Hospital and Alton Memorial Hospital . . . are a fact,” state Rep. Daniel Beiser, D-East Alton, said in a House floor debate that lasted almost three hours. “People are going to the emergency rooms because they’ve lost their personal physicians.” At one point during the debate, state Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, directly blamed Democratic leaders for the fate of a Carbondale, Ill., firefighter who was permanently disabled by a head injury. Bost said no neurosurgeon was available in the local area to treat the injury, so he had to be transported to St. Louis for treatment. “Over the last two years, because of the Democrat leadership, . . . we have not acted” on the malpractice issue, Bost said in a speech thick with sarcasm. “Credit is due to people who have dragged their feet on this issue. Credit is due to the people who have played politics with this issue.” ``Things have come apart in the Metro East . . . . . . when you have to go to St. Louis just to have a baby,’’ state Sen. David Luechtefeld, R-Okawville, said during Senate debate.Opponents of the measure argued that even if there is a malpractice insurance crisis that’s driving doctors out of Illinois, it’s wrong to address it by limiting what injured patients can receive. “If the problem for doctors is higher premiums, then the thing we ought to be capping is premiums, not the awards of people who are injured by negligent doctors!” thundered state Rep. Louis Lang, D-Chicago. He railed at what he called the immorality of caps. The measure wouldn’t limit economic damages, such as medical bills and lost wages, which doctors can be ordered to pay to injured patients based on their actual expected expenses. The noneconomic damages capped by the bill — also known as pain-and-suffering damages — are more subjective and, critics contend, more frequently abused by juries. Unlike Missouri and many other states, Illinois does not allow punitive damages, which are designed to punish plaintiffs for especially egregious behavior. Opponents of caps say pain-and-suffering awards are the only tool available to give just compensation to, say, a woman who has the wrong breast amputated because of a doctor’s carelessness. Such a plaintiff wouldn’t necessarily have high medical bills to be covered, couldn’t show a large loss of wages, and in Illinois couldn’t seek punitive damages. Critics say if there are limits placed on the only kind of damages left — pain and suffering — she might have trouble getting an attorney to take her case. Such caps will have “a disproportionate impact on some of our most vulnerable citizens. It’s not right, it’s not fair, and it’s not legal,” said state Rep. John Fritchey, D-Chicago. “We don’t trust juries anymore,” he said. “Juries are not stupid. It’s this bill that’s not too bright.” The bill passed the House on Monday afternoon on a 68-46 vote. The Senate later approved it on a 36-22 vote. Most of the “no” votes were cast by Chicago-area Democrats.State Rep. Wyvetter Younge, D-East St. Louis, was the only Metro East legislator of either party to vote “no” on the bill. “I don’t think caps will solve the problem,” Younge said after the House vote. House members from the region voting in favor of the bill were state Reps. Beiser; Bost; Kurt Granberg, D-Carlyle; Gary Hannig, D-Litchfield; Jay Hoffman, D-Collinsville; Tom Holbrook, D-Belleville; Dan Reitz, D-Steeleville; Ron Stephens, R-Greenville; and Jim Watson, R-Jacksonville; Senate members from the region who voted in favor of the bill were state Sens. James Clayborne, D-Belleville; Deanna Demuzio, D-Carlinville; Bill Haine, D-Alton; John O. Jones, R-Mt. Vernon; Luechtefeld; and Sen. Frank Watson, R-Greenville, the Senate Republican leader. Blagojevich, a Democrat and a lawyer, will sign the bill if it reaches his desk, a spokeswoman confirmed Monday night. “The governor is personally opposed to capping medical malpractice awards, but the need for real and meaningful reform outweighs that,” said spokeswoman Rebecca Rausch. In addition to the caps, the bill would provide for:
* Stricter screening of malpractice suits at filing.
* Allowing doctors to apologize to injured patients and it being used in court.
* Stricter oversight of doctors, including creating of a Web site listing any past convictions.
* Stricter oversight of insurance companies’ premium rates to doctors.