Personal Injury Law

Governor Blagojevich had Signed Medical Malpractice Caps Bill into Law

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

It has been more than four years since medical malpractice reform was enacted in Illinois, and stakeholders are anxiously awaiting the Supreme Court decision on its constitutionality. Then-Governor Rod Blagojevich had signed the Illinois Medical Malpractice Act of 2005 into law on August 24, 2005. The bill would have automatically become law the next day had the governor not ceremoniously signed it before a large crowd of doctors and lawyers. The law caps non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, for physicians at $500,000 and hospitals at $1 million. The Illinois Supreme Court is expected to release its opinion in a challenge case that arose from Cook County. The case was Abigaile Lebron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital. An a against all odds-legislative victor for medical liability reform advocates set the stage for the historic bill signing in 2005. At the signing, Blagojevich told the overflow crowd that he was personally opposed to medical malpractice caps, but believed it was the right thing to do so that more people could have access to healthcare. Medical malpractice caps do nothing but injure victims of medical negligence. Hopefully, these caps will be found unconstitutional. To learn more about the pending case, please follow the link.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on December 15, 2009 (boomark / email).