Recent Iowa News
December 2024 Newsletter
Michigan's medical liability reform laws threatened by rushed legislation In a rush to pass legislation backed by personal injury lawyers, Michigan lawmakers risk dismantling existing laws that have stabilized the state’s health care environment for three decades....
Supreme Court Orders New Trial in $97M Iowa City Infant Malpractice Judgment
‘Courts have long recognized the danger that juries will be unfairly influenced by findings of ‘purportedly unbiased’ agencies, like the FDA’ The Iowa Supreme Court has reversed a $97.4 million verdict against an OBGYN clinic in Coralville and ordered a new trial —...
May 2024 Newsletter
Kentucky acts to stop abuse of medical liability system A bill signed into law in Kentucky aims to get ahead of aggressive abuses of the medical liability system, sidestepping issues experienced in other states that threaten access to care. The bill, HB 159,...
Current Medical Liability Laws
| Damage Caps | In 2023, Iowa enacted HF 161. Noneconomic damages are limited to $250,000 regardless of the number of plaintiffs, unless the jury determines that there is a substantial or permanent loss or impairment of a bodily function, substantial disfigurement, loss of pregnancy, or death, which warrants a finding that the cap would deprive the plaintiff of just compensation. In such cases, the cap cannot be more than $1,000,000, or $2,000,000 if the civil action includes a hospital. These caps increase by two and one- tenth percent on January 1, 2028, and each January 1 thereafter. |
| Joint Liability Reform | Yes. Defendants are responsible only for their proportionate share of negligence where a defendant is found to bear less than 50% of the total fault. If a defendant is 50% or more liable, he is jointly and severally liable for economic damages only. |
| Collateral Source Reform | Damages must be reduced by the amount received from collateral sources, “except to the extent that the previous payment or future right of payment is pursuant to a state or federal program or from assets of the claimant or the members of the claimant’s immediate family.” |
| Attorney Fees Limited | No. But courts determine reasonableness of fee arrangements. |
| Periodic Payments Permitted | Iowa Code §§ 682.1 through 682.7. |