Illinois high court hears challenge to state medical liability cap

The fate of Illinois' cap on noneconomic damages in medical liability cases rests with the state Supreme Court after justices heard oral arguments Nov. 13 in a constitutional challenge to the 2005 law.

A trial judge in 2007 invalidated the statute, which limits noneconomic jury awards to $500,000 for physicians and $1 million for hospitals. The court found the law unconstitutional, saying it violated the separation of powers between the Legislature and the judiciary.

The ruling was appealed directly to the state Supreme Court, where physicians pledged to defend the cap. Illinois State Medical Society officials noted a marked improvement in the state's medical liability climate since the reform's passage, including a reduction in doctors' insurance premiums and an influx of specialists.

The case "involves exceedingly high stakes for the health, safety and welfare of the people of Illinois," ISMS President Shastri Swaminathan, MD, said in a statement. "Turning the clock back to the days prior to these reforms would cause a devastating effect on access to care."

The ISMS, along with the Litigation Center of the American Medical Association and State Medical Societies, jointly filed a friend-of-the-court brief in the case, urging the high court to uphold the law.

The Illinois Trial Lawyers Assn. called the "one-size-fits-all" cap arbitrary and unfair to injured patients. The group filed a brief opposing the statute.

State Supreme Court justices twice before threw out award limits in medical liability and personal injury cases in 1997 and 1976.

Illinois physicians are not the only ones wrestling in the courts to preserve medical liability reforms.

Georgia doctors fended off a similar challenge after a lawsuit disputing the constitutionality of the state's noneconomic damage cap settled Oct. 31. The move leaves the $350,000 award limit intact, after a trial judge in April found it violated patients' equal protection rights and access to a jury trial.

The Medical Assn. of Georgia, the Litigation Center and the American Tort Reform Assn. had prepared a friend-of-the-court brief defending the cap in the state Supreme Court, which was scheduled to hear the issue Nov. 3. Because the case settled, however, the high court no longer will consider the matter, though state medical association officials expect future challenges.