Georgia: Judge Strikes Down Cap on Medical Malpractice Suit Awards

A Fulton County judge has struck down the cap on monetary awards in a medical malpractice case, a decision that if upheld on appeal could undercut a major component of Georgia’s tort reform laws. Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington wrote in an order released Wednesday that the legislative cap of $350,000 for noneconomic damages such as pain and suffering was unconstitutional because it gave special protections to the medical profession. This meant people injured by doctors had less protection than those injured by, say, a manufacturer’s product. “It is absurd to say that if you get injured by a product that the jury can decide your noneconomic damages, but if you get injured by medical malpractice, it can’t,” said Trent Speckhals, one of the lawyers for Cheon Park, the plaintiff in the case. Park, a 60-year-old retired restaurant owner, fell from a ladder in 2006 while trimming trees at his home near Douglasville and was taken by ambulance to the WellStar Douglas Hospital. He and his wife, Lynne, are suing the hospital and two doctors because he claims they missed injuries to his neck and spine that resulted in his becoming a quadriplegic. The case has not yet gone to trial, and Arrington’s decision does not apply to other cases. But if the defendants appeal, it will give the Georgia Supreme Court a chance to overturn the caps in malpractice cases. The legislature approved the $350,000 cap in 2005 as part of a civil-justice tort reform law over the opposition of the Georgia Trial Lawyers Association and consumer groups. Doctors and hospitals said the law was needed to hold down malpractice-insurance premiums.

Please click on the link below to read the Atlanta Journal Constitution article:

http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/stories/2008/05/01/arrington_0502.html

For more information on defending medical malpractice and nursing home matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at The Citron Law Firm, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.

Texas: Lawsuit Reform Has Helped Local Economy

Limits on lawsuit damages since 1995 have helped pump $1.53 billion into the local economy and created nearly 8,000 new jobs, according to a study commissioned by a legal reform group. But critics and plaintiff advocates question the report’s methodology and say tort reform in Texas has made it more difficult for victims of corporate negligence to find justice. “I think the deck is definitely stacked against small businesses and individuals as it stands right now,” said McAllen lawyer and mediator David Calvillo. “Their right to sue in certain areas is slowly being pruned away.” Savings from reduced damages awarded by juries and fewer lawsuits filed against large businesses since the mid-‘90s has created a climate in which medical and insurance companies can expand, the study states. Across Texas, the reforms have resulted in nearly $113 billion in additional annual spending, almost 500,000 new jobs and $2.6 billion a year in increased state budget resources. Economic benefits were an unforeseen outcome of civil lawsuit reform, said Sherry Sylvester, a spokeswoman for Texans for Lawsuit Reform, which commissioned the study. “We had no idea that the difference would be as large as it was,” she said. State legislators passed a massive legal reform bill in 1995 that capped damages in cases such as asbestos exposure and medical malpractice and have followed up with similar bills in years since.

Please click on the link below to read The Monitor article:

http://www.themonitor.com/news/reform_11619___article.html/lawsuit_www.html

For more information on defending medical malpractice and nursing home matters in Florida contact Howard Citron at The Citron Law Firm, P.A. – www.citronlegal.com.