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NC Senate Bill 33 Proposes to Cap North Carolina Medical Malpractice Damages at $250,000

Last week, state lawmakers introduced Senate Bill 33. This bill places an arbitrary $250,000 cap on North Carolina medical malpractice damages for injuries involving mutilation, disfigurement, paralysis, loss of limb, pain, suffering, and death. The bill also grants ER doctors and other hospital emergency personnel immunity from medical malpractice?unless gross negligence or wanton conduct or intentional wrongdoing was involved. This burden of proof is definitely much tougher than what is required under current North Carolina medical malpractice law, which requires that an injured patient liability for emergency room care by showing that the medical care provided did not meet the standard of care required of ER health care professionals.

How could this new bill possibly be reasonable and fair? Many opponents of the bill are speaking out, including NC Supreme Court Justice I. Beverly Lake Jr., who says the proposed cap is ?Unnecessary and unconstitutional. A press release issued by the NC Advocates for Justice quotes North Carolina Dr. Martin Brooks as saying that it is important that not only is it important to hold negligent medical professionals liable, but also, he says that a jury should determine North Carolina medical malpractice compensation on the basis of the specifics of each case and each victim?s injuries and not by some law that was arbitrarily set.

An article in the New England Journal of Medicine reported that in North Carolina each year, 5,700 hospital patients sustain permanent injuries and 4,000 patients are killed as a result of medical mistakes that could have been prevented. For someone with catastrophic injuries, $250,000 may not even cover all medical costs let alone compensate the victim for the pain and suffering, loss of quality of life, the death of a loved one, and other losses and damages. Also, as one opinion piece in the Charlotte Observer points out, with nearly 40% of the people in the state over the age of 65 or younger than 18, that?s over 3.5 million people who wouldn?t even get economic damages because they likely don?t have lost income. That means kids, stay-at-home moms, college kids, and retirees will likely suffer the most from a $250,000 cap.

NC Senate Bill 33, North Carolina General Assembly

Is malpractice reform good for patients?, Charlotte Observer, February 22, 2011

Related Web Resources:
North Carolina Advocates for Justice

North Carolina Coalition for Patient Safety

More North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog Posts:
North Carolina Medical Malpractice?: Study of 10 Local Hospitals Reveal Failure to Decrease Hospital Mistakes, North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog, December 6, 2010

Charlotte, North Carolina Medical Malpractice: AMA Says 95 Liability Claims Filed for Every 100 US Physicians, North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog, August 25, 2010

Medical Device-Related Complications Send Over 70,000 Children to the ER Every Year, North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog, July 27, 2010

Full post as published by North Carolina Injury Lawyer Blog on February 22, 2011 (boomark / email).