State laws and court rulings have combined to erect roadblocks at the doors of Wisconsin courthouses, placing strict limits on who can sue for medical malpractice, how much money they can collect and where the money will come from.
A Milwaukee woman who lost all four of her limbs as a result of medical malpractice should collect her entire $25.3 million jury verdict, a Milwaukee County circuit judge ruled in declaring a state-mandated $750,000 cap on medical malpractice court awards unconstitutional in her case.
"This is not a runaway verdict. It is certainly not outrageous, and no one could seriously argue that it is not in proportion to Mrs. Mayo's injuries," Judge Jeffrey Conen wrote referring to the July jury award to Ascaris Mayo, a 53-year mother of four who lost her limbs after a blood infection went undiagnosed.
The Milwaukee County jury award included $15 million for her pain and suffering and $1.5 million to her husband, Antonio Mayo, for loss of companionship. Conen's order rejects a defense request that he cut the pain and suffering and loss of companionship awards from $16.5 million to $750,000. The remainder of the award is for economic damages, such as health care expenses, and is not affected by the cap.
Conen's 21-page decision released late Friday applies only to the Mayo case and does not strike down the 2006 statute that created the $750,000 cap on noneconomic awards, for such things as pain and suffering.
"Although the cap may be constitutional as applied to medical malpractice victims as a whole, there is no rational justification for depriving Mrs. Mayo, who is in her mid-fifties, limbless and largely immobile, and Mr. Mayo" of the entire jury award, Conen wrote.
For years, lobbyists for doctors and their insurance companies have been urging state lawmakers across the nation to enact medical malpractice damages caps as part of a "tort reform" movement aimed at ensuring quality medical treatment while keeping medical malpractice insurance costs down. Plaintiff lawyers, however, argue the caps simply keep legitimate malpractice lawsuits from being filed.
"It is unreasonable to require Mrs. Mayo and her husband, whose lives have been so drastically altered, to bear the brunt of the legislature's intended 'tort reform,'" Conen wrote. He added that "there is no rational basis" for slashing the award to the Mayos "in the hopes of marginally improving health care in Wisconsin."
Conen's opinion noted that payment of the entire award would have little impact on the $1.15 billion state-managed insurance fund that pays medical malpractice claims that exceed $1 million.
The Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund "will be able to pay the plaintiff's award in full from its 2013 investment income alone," the judge wrote referring to the unique insurance fund.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in June reported the fund seldom pays claims and that only 140 medical malpractice lawsuits were filed in Wisconsin last year — a drop of more than 50% compared with 1999. Plaintiff lawyers argue the drop was caused by a series of laws that make bringing cases more difficult and expensive combined with the strength of the fund, which helps finance intense defenses against claims. Doctors and their insurers attribute the drop in suits to better health care.Nationally, more than 90% of the medical malpractice cases that do make it to trial are won by the doctors and their insurers, according to insurance industry statistics.
more
No Relief | Watchdog Update - Malpractice cap doesn't apply to woman who lost limbs, judge rules
A Milwaukee woman who lost all four of her limbs as a result of medical malpractice should collect her entire $25.3 million jury verdict, a Milwaukee County circuit judge ruled in declaring a state-mandated $750,000 cap on medical malpractice court awards unconstitutional in her case.
"This is not a runaway verdict. It is certainly not outrageous, and no one could seriously argue that it is not in proportion to Mrs. Mayo's injuries," Judge Jeffrey Conen wrote referring to the July jury award to Ascaris Mayo, a 53-year mother of four who lost her limbs after a blood infection went undiagnosed.
The Milwaukee County jury award included $15 million for her pain and suffering and $1.5 million to her husband, Antonio Mayo, for loss of companionship. Conen's order rejects a defense request that he cut the pain and suffering and loss of companionship awards from $16.5 million to $750,000. The remainder of the award is for economic damages, such as health care expenses, and is not affected by the cap.
Conen's 21-page decision released late Friday applies only to the Mayo case and does not strike down the 2006 statute that created the $750,000 cap on noneconomic awards, for such things as pain and suffering.
"Although the cap may be constitutional as applied to medical malpractice victims as a whole, there is no rational justification for depriving Mrs. Mayo, who is in her mid-fifties, limbless and largely immobile, and Mr. Mayo" of the entire jury award, Conen wrote.
For years, lobbyists for doctors and their insurance companies have been urging state lawmakers across the nation to enact medical malpractice damages caps as part of a "tort reform" movement aimed at ensuring quality medical treatment while keeping medical malpractice insurance costs down. Plaintiff lawyers, however, argue the caps simply keep legitimate malpractice lawsuits from being filed.
"It is unreasonable to require Mrs. Mayo and her husband, whose lives have been so drastically altered, to bear the brunt of the legislature's intended 'tort reform,'" Conen wrote. He added that "there is no rational basis" for slashing the award to the Mayos "in the hopes of marginally improving health care in Wisconsin."
Conen's opinion noted that payment of the entire award would have little impact on the $1.15 billion state-managed insurance fund that pays medical malpractice claims that exceed $1 million.
The Injured Patients and Families Compensation Fund "will be able to pay the plaintiff's award in full from its 2013 investment income alone," the judge wrote referring to the unique insurance fund.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in June reported the fund seldom pays claims and that only 140 medical malpractice lawsuits were filed in Wisconsin last year — a drop of more than 50% compared with 1999. Plaintiff lawyers argue the drop was caused by a series of laws that make bringing cases more difficult and expensive combined with the strength of the fund, which helps finance intense defenses against claims. Doctors and their insurers attribute the drop in suits to better health care.Nationally, more than 90% of the medical malpractice cases that do make it to trial are won by the doctors and their insurers, according to insurance industry statistics.
more
No Relief | Watchdog Update - Malpractice cap doesn't apply to woman who lost limbs, judge rules
