SPRINGFIELD, Ill., Feb. 4 (UPI) -- The Illinois Supreme Court Thursday ruled caps on pain and suffering, and other non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases are unconstitutional.
The matter involved jury award limits -- $500,000 per case for doctors and $1 million for hospitals -- in medical malpractice cases passed by the Legislature four years ago during a time of spiking liability costs for medical providers.
The court's opinion upholds a 2007 Cook County Circuit Court ruling that determined the law violated the state Constitution's "separation of powers" clause. It said limiting damages interfered with the judicial branch's authority to reduce verdicts.
The case involved the Caesarean section delivery of a baby with numerous permanent injuries, the court said. It was lead case in a number of lawsuits that raised the same issue and consolidated by the Cook County circuit court.
Chief Justice Thomas Fitzgerald deliver the court's judgment and opinion. Justices Charles Freeman, Thomas Kilbride and Anne Burke concurred. Justice Lloyd Karmeier agreed in part and dissented in part with the opinion, joined by Justice Rita Garman. Justice Robert Thomas did not participate.
