CHICAGO--A circuit court judge on Tuesday struck down an Illinois medical liability reform law, ruling that caps on noneconomic damages for medical malpractice lawsuits are unconstitutional.
Cook County Circuit Court Judge Diane Joan Larsen's decision in the case of Abigaile LeBron vs. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital and Dr. Roberto Levi-D'Ancona is the first challenge to the 2005 law, which as a key provision placed caps on noneconomic damages of $500,000 per doctor and $1 million per hospital.
The decision was deemed a "disappointment" by the American Insurance Assn.
"Throwing out the noneconomic damage award cap will once again subject medical malpractice insurers to excessive verdicts and settlements, setting back the limited progress we have seen in the Illinois market," said Steve Schnieder, Midwest Region vp of the Washington-based AIA in a statement. "We are disappointed in the ruling and hope the caps are found constitutional on appeal."
The LeBron family sued Gottlieb Memorial Hospital in Melrose Park, Ill. and Dr. Levi-D'Ancona when they alleged that the physician failed to respond quickly to complications during Abigaile's birth in October 2005, according to court documents. As a result, Abigaile was born with severe brain damage.
Illinois enacted a medical malpractice reform law in 2005 to address an access to care crisis that forced doctors to flee the state after more than 44 verdicts or settlements in excess of $5 million in Cook County the previous year, according to the AIA.
An appeal of Tuesday's decision would go directly to the Illinois Supreme Court, the AIA said in the statement.
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