This report originally appeared in the March 2010 issue of DOTmed Business News

The Illinois Supreme Court has struck down a 2005 law that capped damages a plaintiff could seek in medical malpractice actions. The case, Lebron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, challenged a statutory provision of Public Act 94-677 limiting on awards for "noneconomic" damages (such as pain and suffering). The total statutory limit was $1 million for hospitals and their personnel and $500,000 for doctors.

Lebron is the lead case of several consolidated cases challenging the damage limitation. In Lebron, a baby born by Caesarean section was discovered to have numerous severe, permanent injuries. The plaintiffs sought a declaratory judgment that the damage limitation was invalid, alleging that the infant had sustained disability, disfigurement, pain and suffering to the extent that damages for those injuries will greatly exceed the applicable limitations on noneconomic damages under the Act. A lower court granted the judgment. Because the provision was inseverable from the enactment, the entire enactment was declared invalid. An appeal followed to the Supreme Court.

In its decision, the Supreme Court affirmed that the statute is facially invalid on separation of powers grounds. The interference occurs through limiting the authority of the judicial branch to reduce verdicts, known as a remittitur, making the statute a "legislative remittitur." The Court agreed with the defendants that noneconomic injuries are difficult to assess, but said that this difficulty was not alleviated by imposing an arbitrary damages limitation without regard to the facts or circumstances. The Court also agreed with the lower court that due to inseverability, the entire statute is invalid.

Interestingly, the dissent suggested that the holding would be frustrating the Obama Administration's health care reform principles of tort reform, but the majority stated the decision was solely based on the state Constitution.

Also, read about the recent Georgia Supreme Court decision at DM 12126.

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