{"id":144,"date":"2015-11-03T10:58:22","date_gmt":"2015-11-03T16:58:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.illinoisinjurylawyerblog.net\/?p=144"},"modified":"2020-03-19T09:57:54","modified_gmt":"2020-03-19T14:57:54","slug":"damages-caps-in-medical-malpractice-cases-are-unconstitutional-in-illinois","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.molllawgroup.com\/blog\/damages-caps-in-medical-malpractice-cases-are-unconstitutional-in-illinois\/","title":{"rendered":"Damages Caps in Medical Malpractice Cases Are Unconstitutional in Illinois"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a landmark 2010 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.illinoiscourts.gov\/Opinions\/SupremeCourt\/2010\/February\/105741.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">case<\/a>, the Illinois Supreme Court decided that a cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases is unconstitutional. In the case, the plaintiffs, a minor and her mother, sued a doctor and hospital for medical malpractice, alleging that the defendants\u2019 negligence caused the daughter to suffer from severe and permanent injuries. The injuries included cerebral palsy, cognitive mental impairment, neurological damage, severe brain injury, and the need for a feeding tube, among others.<\/p>\n<p>In the case, the Illinois Supreme Court was asked to decide if a law enacted by the Illinois General Assembly that limited non-economic damages against doctors and hospitals in medical malpractice actions was constitutional. Under the law, non-economic damages against doctors were capped at $500,000 and non-economic damages against hospitals and hospital personnel at $1,000,000. Non-economic damages included, but were not limited to, damages for pain and suffering, disfigurement, loss of consortium, and loss of society.<\/p>\n<p>In its ruling, the court found that the statute, which was passed by the Illinois General Assembly, violated the state constitution\u2019s separation of powers clause. The separation of powers clause reserves certain powers for each branch of government. In this case, the Court found that the General Assembly exceeded its power by passing the damages cap, since determinations about the appropriateness of a damages award is a power reserved for Illinois state judges, not lawmakers.<\/p>\n<p> <a href=\"https:\/\/www.molllawgroup.com\/blog\/damages-caps-in-medical-malpractice-cases-are-unconstitutional-in-illinois\/#more-144\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading \u2192<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>In a landmark 2010 case, the Illinois Supreme Court decided that a cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases is unconstitutional. In the case, the plaintiffs, a minor and her mother, sued a doctor and hospital for medical malpractice, alleging that the defendants\u2019 negligence caused the daughter to suffer from severe and permanent injuries. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-144","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-medical-malpractice-case-law"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Damages Caps in Medical Malpractice Cases Are Unconstitutional in Illinois &#8212; Illinois Injury and Mass Tort Lawyer Blog &#8212; November 3, 2015<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"In a landmark 2010 case, the Illinois Supreme Court decided that a cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases is unconstitutional. In the &#8212; November 3, 2015\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.molllawgroup.com\/blog\/damages-caps-in-medical-malpractice-cases-are-unconstitutional-in-illinois\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Damages Caps in Medical Malpractice Cases Are Unconstitutional in Illinois &#8212; Illinois Injury and Mass Tort Lawyer Blog &#8212; November 3, 2015\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"In a landmark 2010 case, the Illinois Supreme Court decided that a cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases is unconstitutional. 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