Abigale Lebron, et al., Appellees, v. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital et al., Appellants

The Illinois Supreme Court ruled on February 4, 2010 that caps limiting non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases are unconstitutional.

The court held a 2006 state law capping non-economic damages, such as pain and suffering, at $500,000 in cases against doctors and $1 million in cases against hospitals violated the Separation of Powers clause of the Illinois Constitution.

On two previous occasions--in 1976 and 1997--the court also has held such caps are unconstitutional. The Illinois legislature tried again, in 2006. A Cook County Circuit Court judge found that law unconstitutional, and a direct appeal to the state supreme court followed.

Proponents of the cap say soaring jury verdicts for non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases have jeopardized the health care available to Illinois residents. Until the 2006 reforms, doctors were being driven out of high-risk practices and even out of state due to skyrocketing medical malpractice insurance premiums resulting from high awards for non-economic damages. Their patients, particularly pregnant women facing high-risk deliveries and victims of emergency head trauma, faced the prospect of limited availability of medical care--and sometimes no care at all--as doctors fled Illinois.