Hospital's Bottom Line Not Affected by Medical Malpractice

Medical malpractice claims have little effect on an hospital's bottom line. Analysis of verdict data from 2002-2003 showed that noneconomic damages awards against hospitals declined. Hospitals have enjoyed prosperity and have enjoyed record profits, without caps having any impact. In fact, hospitals have said that insurance and investment markets, not tort claims, are the reason for any financial difficulties they may have faced in the past. Hospitals are currently making millions that they are spending. For example, the Rehabilitation Institute of Chicago has purchased a parcel of land for several hundreds of millions of dollars for building a new hospital. Medical malpractice suits are necessary to ensure that injured parties are made whole and hold hospitals and physicians accountable for their negligence.

New Product Recall Website

The U.S. Government has established a website to inform the public when products have been recalled for safety reasons. There are six categories of products: motor vehicles, boats, food, medicine, cosmetics, and environmental products. Many injuries can occur due to such products. Recalls.gov allows the public to search for recalls. The site also provides a list of recent recalls. The website also provides consumers with links to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission.

Slip and Falls Lead to Injuries, Fatalities

When walking into a building, typically, one does not worry about slipping or falling. However, many injuries each year are results of slipping on a wet area in a floor that can be caused by many liquid, including water. Floor conditions and maintenance are very easy for an owner to control and is extremely important. Most major janitorial supply vendors have cleaning and wax products, which can assist in increasing a floor’s slip resistance. However, slips and falls can be fatal. Approximately 8,500 fatalities occur each year due to falls on level or near level surfaces with many of these occurring because of slippery walk surfaces.

American Association of Justice Report Released

With the headlines of today's news full of recalls of many different cars with problems that could result in car accidents, the American Association of Justice has released a new report on how litigation has spurred auto innovations. These innovations have ultimately made cars safer. "Beginning in the 1960s and ranging from gas tanks, side-impact design, air bags, seat belts, and power windows, the civil justice system has worked hand-in-hand with regulation to protect Americans while spurring generations of safety innovations." The report marks the beginning of efforts by the AAJ to defend the American justice system and promote the importance of the current civil justice system. The report also stresses the important work trial attorneys do every day.

The Specter of Frivolous Lawsuits

Injuries occur at workplaces each day. The Illinois court system is designed to help injured parties get compensated for the negligence of others. However, many argue that reform is necessary to counter the number of "frivolous" lawsuits. But if companies are not concerned about the safety of their workplaces, public areas, products, or services, then there is no incentive to ensure satisfaction. The court system must protect individuals from dangers in their everyday life that are a result of negligence or dangerous behavior.

Illinois Supreme Court Rules on Medical Malpractice Caps

For the third time, the Illinois Supreme Court found caps on medical malpractice damages unconstitutional because the legislature was encroaching on the inherent powers of the judiciary. The limitation on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice suits violated the separation of powers clause of the Illinois Constitution.

The limitation had been set forth by the legislature as a way to enact reform to the health care system in Illinois. However, these limitations did not reform the system. Instead, injured parties were blamed for an unfair system that saw rising costs and unfair treatments.

One of the concerns of the Court in its opinion was that the statute reduced a jury’s award of noneconomic damages to a predetermined limit, irrespective of the facts of the case.

In the case before the court, a mother alleged that certain acts and omissions by the doctors and the hospital caused her newly born child to sustain numerous permanent injuries. Under the statute, the jury’s weighing of damages based on the injuries in this specific case could not outweigh the legislature’s pre-determined cap. Although the child suffered greatly from injuries including, but not limited to, severe brain injury, cerebral palsy, cognitive mental impairment, inability to be fed normally such that she must be fed by a gastronomy tube, and inability to develop normal neurological function, she could not be awarded noneconomic damages to justly compensate her for the injuries she sustained.

The arbitrary number created by legislators simplified the damages that the mother and child suffered and limited the powers of the judicial branch to assess the case before it. By finding the caps unconstitutional again, the Supreme Court placed the powers back into the rightful hands of our judicial branch to ensure fairness for all injured parties in medical malpractice suits.