Personal Injury Law

Malpractice Bill Raises Issues About a Lawsuit

By Hurley, McKenna & Mertz

Barry Meier reports in the New York Times, that Georgia Representative and retired obstetrician, Phil Gingery, is ?sponsoring a Congressional bill to sharply cut in medical malpractice awards was involved in a $500,000 settlement of a malpractice lawsuit?brought by a pregnant woman who charged that inappropriate care caused the loss of her fetus and other complications.? (NYT, 2/9/11). The case alleged that Dr. Gingery and two other obstetricians in his practice failed to timely diagnose the woman?s appendicitis, which lead to the loss of her fetus and other complications.

The legislation sponsored by Dr. Gingrey would, among other things, ?limit damages for pain and suffering in malpractice cases to $250,000, restrict fees paid to lawyers representing patients and create alternative means to lawsuits for resolving medical disputes. The bill would also bar the awarding of punitive damages in cases brought against manufacturers of drugs, medical devices and other products that are approved, cleared or licensed for sale by the Food and Drug Administration.?

This legislation is an unfair cap on damages for plaintiffs who, in many cases have damages greatly in excess of the cap of $250,000. A plaintiff whose injuries are greater than the capped amount should not arbitrarily be told he or she cannot be fully compensated. Furthermore, a bar on punitive damages only increases the changes for negligence and moral hazard because manufacturers know they will not be punished for negligence, thus, there is little incentive to act with due care. As medical malpractice attorneys, we at Hurley, McKenna & Mertz find this result unacceptable.

Finally, the mere fact that many plaintiff?s lawyers are compensated in contingency fee arrangements is not a reason to cap medical malpractice damages. Contingency fee arrangements only give plaintiffs who could not otherwise afford legal representation access to the courts for just compensation. Contingency fee arrangements are delegated at a legal and fair percentage, and, as such, are not an unreasonable burden on plaintiff?s recoveries.

Full post as published by Chicago Medical Malpractice Lawyer Blog on February 14, 2011 (boomark / email).