Illinois Supreme Court Delays Ruling on Med Mal Cap

The Illinois Supreme Court has delayed issuing a much-anticipated ruling on whether the state’s four-year-old cap on medical malpractice awards is legal.

In 2005, the state’s General Assembly adopted limits on the amount which can be awarded to victims of medical malpractice. The move came as many doctors fled the state to avoid increasing insurance premiums.

The state’s high court indicated it would rule on the legality of the caps this week, but no word has come down so far, legal watchers said. That means it likely will be another month until the court issues its ruling.

Limits on Med Mal Damages to be Determined

The state’s cap limit what injured patients can collect for non-economic damages such as pain and suffering to $500,000 against doctors and $1 million against hospitals. In 2007, a Cook County judge ruled that the caps interfered with juries’ power to award appropriate damage awards for medical errors, according to the Associated Press. The state’s Supreme Court then agreed to settle the matter.

Illinois lawmakers have adopted caps on jury awards twice before in the state’s history, and both times, the state’s Supreme Court eventually invalidated them, according to a report in the Chicago Tribune.

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