Recent Illinois News
October 2023 Newsletter
Liability reform elevated to presidential debate state Earlier this month, one presidential candidate offered up a tried and true way to improve access to patient care while lowering costs for Americans — through medical liability reform. A Wall Street Journal...
Nikki Haley’s Good Healthcare Idea: Medical Malpractice Reform Can Help Reduce Costs
The Republican presidential candidates during last week’s debate offered few useful ideas to improve healthcare and lower costs. But credit to Nikki Haley for highlighting one: tort reform. Asked how to protect sick Americans from financial ruin, she mentioned the...
April 2023 Newsletter
Patient protection: Good Samaritan legislation introduced in Congress The Good Samaritan Health Professionals Act of 2023 was re-introduced in the House of Representatives this month, to close the gap in available medical coverage during federally declared disasters...
Current Medical Liability Laws
| Damage Caps | No Cap. $500,000 cap on noneconomic damages for awards against physicians. $1 million cap on noneconomic damages for awards against hospital. (2005). Ruled unconstitutional – LeBron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, 930 N.E.2D 895 (Ill. 2010). |
| Joint Liability Reform | Several liability only when a defendant is 25 percent or more at fault. Exception: environmental polluters and negligent parties in medical malpractice actions are always joint and severally liable. |
| Collateral Source Reform | Collateral Source rule applies. |
| Attorney Fees Limited | Yes. Fees are limited to one-third of a plaintiff’s award. |
| Periodic Payments Permitted | Yes. Either party may elect or the court may order partial payment of future medical expenses through an annuity. The court must order the defendant to pay to the plaintiff 20% of the present cash value of future medical expenses and cost of life care. The remaining 80% shall be paid for through an annuity. Ruled unconstitutional – LeBron v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, 930 N.E.2D 895 (Ill. 2010). Note however, that the Illinois Supreme Court ruled only that the cap on noneconomic damages was unconstitutional. Because no part of the law was severable, e.g., those concerning periodic payments, those other provisions were rendered unconstitutional. Accordingly, the court stated that “We emphasize, however, that because the other provisions contained in Public Act 94- 677 are deemed invalid solely on inseverability grounds, the legislature remains free to reenact any provisions it deems appropriate. LeBron, at 250. |