Medical malpractice attorneys can still help victims get full compensation in Illinois
In a landmark decision, the Supreme Court of Illinois has struck down a legislatively enacted “cap” on damages in medical malpractice trials. Verdict or jury “caps” are laws created by the legislature to prevent victims of medical malpractice or other serious injury from being fully compensated by those who injured them. The laws limit the amount of money juries are allowed to order defendants to pay to those people they hurt. The cap in Illinois, $500,000, was actually relatively high compared to some states that have caps as low as $200,000.
Many legislatures enact these caps with the completely mistaken belief that they will somehow help reduce the cost of healthcare or lower doctors insurance premiums, and to combat what the proponents of tort reform call “frivolous” lawsuits. However, many states, like Texas, that have had caps for almost a decade or more still continue to see increases in health costs and medical malpractice premiums despite these artificial caps that do nothing but prevent justice from being given.
Brian D. Cook, medical malpractice attorney with Bahe Cook Cantley & Jones PLC states that “legislative caps on personal injury awards are simply an attempt by the legislature to take the power away from the ordinary citizen in one of the truly democratic institutions that we still have – the jury process. By substituting their own opinion for that of the individual, the juror, legislators overstep their bounds and unreasonably trample the American justice system.”
