LOUISIANA AHEAD OF THE CURVE

A Louisiana Appellate Court recently overturned the state's medical malpractice damages caps, because the cap fails to provide an "adequate remedy" for tort injuries. The ruling came out of a medical malpractice case that arose when a William Arrington died in a Louisiana emergency room. The family was paid $500,000 from the Louisiana Patient's Compensation Fund, the maximum they could receive under the cap law. The family appealed, seeking to have the damages limitation found unconstitutional. Judge Elizabeth A. Pickett, the author of the Appellate Court opinion, said the Malpractice Act restricted patients' rights in two important ways. First, patients under the Malpractice Act were required to appear before a review panel before moving forward with the case. Secondly, patients were limited to a $500,000 recovery. To quote Judge Pickett, "The balance has been weighed heavily in favor of health care providers, their insurers and the Patients' Compensation Fund by the two-thirds erosion in the 'dollar' from 1975 to date, which limits the value of the claim to one-third of its value in 1975, thereby violating the equal protection laws guaranteed by the Louisiana constitution." The Illinois Supreme Court will likely be facing the same issue in the very near future. Hopefully the Court will follow Louisiana's example.