This fall, the Illinois Supreme Court will consider the constitutionality of a recently enacted law which limits the amount of money recoverable in a medical malpractice lawsuit.  As it currently stands, victims of medical malpractice are limited by law to recovering no more than $500,000.00 for non-economic damages.  Non-economic damages refer to pain and suffering, and emotional and psychological injuries.  The amount that can be recovered for lost wages and medical bills is currently uncapped.  The law was passed in 2005 amidst a "crisis" in which doctors were leaving Madison and St. Clair counties.  While there probably is no argument that doctors were leaving, I strongly disagree that it has anything directly to do with lawsuits.  Rather, the issue was that the insurance companies were charging unjustifiably high insurance premiums for doctors in these areas.  For example, malpractice premiums for neurosurgeons were more than $246,000.00 in 2004. 

This is the same situation that we have seen in Missouri and across the country.  The problem is not a lawsuit crisis, but an insurance crisis.  The insurance companies are working hard to create an atmosphere of fear and are pointing the finger at lawsuits and trial lawyers.  They do all this to justify raising their premiums so that they can pad their bottom line.  Even worse, in January 2005, President Bush visited Collinsville, Illinois, to tout medical liability reforms to an audience of health care providers.  The problem we see today is that such high ranking politicians are backed by the fat-pocket insurance lobbyists to help reinforce this so-called "crisis."  However, no one is fighting for the rights of the individuals.  By way of these caps on damages, the insurance industry has made it near impossible for attorneys to take medical malpractice cases.  What many people don't know is that the average medical malpractice case can cost anywhere from $100,000.00 to $300,000.00 in expenses alone to prepare for trial.  These are not attorneys' fees; these are the fees for experts, exhibits, depositions, etc.  Thus, when they cap the amount that you can win at trial this close to the amount that it costs to bring the case to trial, it is not worthwhile to try these cases. 

Illinois has seen these laws before and, at least twice before, the State Supreme Court has ruled them as being unconstitutional.  The last time was in 1997, and the Court said then that it was for the juries to decide the amount of the verdict, not the legislature.  I can only hope that the court continues to protect the individual in this upcoming session.  It may not be long before Missouri courts also face this similar issue, and I hope that they find some strong guidance from Illinois if they do.

Josh Myers is a St. Louis personal injury lawyer licensed to practice in Missouri and Illinois.  If you would like to discuss your medical malpractice case, please contact him.  There are never any hourly fees and it's always free to discuss your case.   

Congratulations to Mary Coffey and Genevieve Nichols who recently received a $2.5 million verdict in St. Louis County in a medical malpractice case.  Any trial lawyer can tell you that St. Louis County is a tough place to try cases...but it's near impossible to win a medical malpractice case there.  Mary and Genevieve did an outstanding job for their clients.  I hear their trial tactics were a testament to David Ball's approach.  A copy of a recent article detailing their win is below:

A jury awarded $2.58 million Wednesday night to an Arnold couple in a
medical malpractice case where a retiree got a staph infection and lost his right leg, part of his left foot, a kidney and some hearing.

The jury in St. Louis County Circuit Court found in favor of James Klotz, 69,the victim of the infection, and awarded him $2,067,000 in past and future economic and noneconomic damages.

The jury then awarded damages of $513,000 to Mary Klotz, his wife of 46 years.  She quit her job to help care for her husband for the last four years.

The jury found Dr. Michael Shapiro and Metro Heart Group of St. Louis to be 67 percent responsible and St. Anthony's Medical Center to be 33 percent responsible. Shapiro installed a pacemaker in Klotz's heart in March 2004.

In closing arguments, Klotz's attorney, Mary Coffey, said Klotz has undergone 15 surgeries, spent 84 days in hospitals, made 137 visits to doctor's offices, recovered from temporary brain damage and has had to learn to walk again with a prosthesis.

Defense attorneys James Hennelly and John T. Eckenrode denied any liability by either the hospital or Shapiro. They said Klotz could have gotten the infection anywhere.

On March 17, 2004, Klotz suffered a heart attack and paramedics inserted an IV on the way to St. Anthony's, where he was admitted. Shapiro installed a temporary pacemaker on March 20 and a permanent pacemaker the next day.

Klotz was discharged from the hospital on March 24.  Klotz was stricken in late April at the couple's time-share place in Sedona, Ariz., and later diagnosed at a hospital in Phoenix with Methicillin Resistant Staph Aureus, also known as MRSA. The infection led doctors there to remove the pacemaker and found golf-ball size masses of infection in his body.

Coffey argued that the infection came from the IV that paramedics had inserted and the staff at St. Anthony's had failed to remove within 48 hours. She cited testimony of an expert that 75 percent of MRSA comes from hospitals. She alleged that Shapiro had installed the pacemaker even though there was redness on the right wrist of the patient, and the installation became the conduit for the infection to spread.

Eckenrode said there was no negligence by Shapiro, that the installation of the pacemaker was essential and lifesaving, and that Shapiro correctly diagnosed the redness as inflammation, not infection.

Hennelly argued that nurses' notes indicated the IV had been changed within 12 hours of Klotz's arrival at the hospital. He said Klotz could have caught the infection anywhere, "cut shaving, a paper cut, bumped into something" and that St. Anthony's had not been negligent.

Eckenrode said afterward he expected that the jury verdict, signed by nine of the 12 jurors after seven hours of deliberation, would be appealed.

If you need to speak to a St. Louis Medical Malpractice Lawyer, contact Josh Myers.  His practice is exclusively focused on personal injury.  It is always free to discuss a potential case.