Tuesday, December 05, 2006

MERRY CHRISTMAS from the ITLA

As predicted, the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association has their case to challenge the Tort Reform law enacted last year.

So what? Who cares?

We all should.

If the ITLA is successful in getting this law declared unconstitutional, then medical malpractice rates will soar again (last year, ISMIE Mutual Insurance Company's malpractice rates went DOWN for most physicians.) If this happens, doctors will once again start leaving the state to find a place where they can practice without giving all their earnings away to insurance companies (and trial lawyers.)

Caps on non-economic damages work to keep the big bankroll awards from increasing malpractice insurance costs. In other words, it discourages people from suing just so they can see how much money they can make, rather than only recovering the loss from the injury in question. (Non-economic damages = "pain and suffering"-type of money awarded in a malpractice case. This is the amount that is usually run up by the trial attorneys to increase the fee they collect, usually 30% or more of the total.)

For more info check out these links:

Announcement by the Illinois Trial Lawyers Association (ITLA).

Response by the Illinois State Medical Society (ISMS).




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