Personal Injury Law

Tort Reform Detrimentally Harms Victims of Medical Negligence

By Steven M. Levin and John J. Perconti

All too often the public does not hear about the detrimental effects tort reform has on the hundreds of thousands of victims whom are injured by medical malpractice each year. Tort reform puts a cap on compensation for victims of medical negligence. The Huffington Post points out the specific case of Lisa Gurley. A court found that the severe brain damage suffered at birth by Lisa?s son, Colin, was caused by a doctor?s negligence. Despite this finding, Nebraska tort reform prevented Lisa and her son from being adequately compensated for his injuries. In fact, they were compensated for just a tiny fraction of what it will cost to care for Colin for the remainder of his life. Now, Medicaid and the Nebraska Medically Handicap Children's program pay for all of Colin?s care. It is grossly unfair that the taxpayers and Colin?s family are paying the astronomical cost of caring for a severely handicapped child while the doctor and the insurance company paid minimally for the medical negligence. The attorneys at Levin and Perconti are working to protect the rights of catastrophically injured children like Colin and to ensure that there continue to be adequate remedies for injured victims of medical negligence.

Full post as published by Illinois Medical Malpractice Blog on March 01, 2010 (boomark / email).