The plaintiffs’ bar argues that although there may be excessive costs involved in the current system in the form of excessive damage awards, higher healthcare costs for doctors and patients, and the cost of litigation, these costs are justified by the need to compensate plaintiffs, ensuring that defendants who are found liable will face the total costs of their actions, and also have additional benefit of deterring future medical error and improving patient safety.

the Illinois legislature tried a third time and passed legislation that was aimed specifically at medical malpractice claims and established a cap on noneconomic damages of $500,000 in cases against doctors and $1 million in cases against hospitals. Other states have similar statues, although the amounts of the caps vary. 7

LeBron vs. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital The Illinois Supreme Court’s decision in LeBron vs. Gottlieb Memorial Hospital, if its reasoning is followed in other states, could decide tort reform questions relative to caps on non-economic damages.

In LeBron, a 13-month-old girl suffered a severe brain injury during her birth at Gottlieb Memorial Hospital. Her parents filed the lawsuit against the hospital, received a jury award in their favor, and then challenged the Illinois medical malpractice statute’s limitation on her damages. The court ruled in LeBron’s favor, arguing that the limitation on a plaintiff’s noneconomic damages was unconstitutional because it violated the Illinois separation of powers clause.

LeBron court was whether, through its adoption of the damages cap, the Illinois legislature was exercising powers properly belonging to the Illinois courts. A statute cannot unduly encroach on the judiciary’s sphere of authority or impede the courts in the performance of their functions. The court explained that each branch of government has its own unique sphere of authority that cannot be exercised by another branch. Thus, the legislature is prohibited from enacting laws that unduly infringe upon the inherent powers of judges.

HMIC ad:UnderOneRoof_half page 5/7/10 1:34 PM Page 1

The Illinois legislature had attempted
to pass a statute that set caps on non-
economic awards of damages twice,
and both statutes were struck down by
the Illinois Supreme Court. 6 In 2005,
The court decided that the proper
method for dealing with a jury award
for excessive noneconomic damages is
for the presiding judge to use the doc-
trine of remittitur. Remittitur allows
a judge to lower the dollar amount
of a jury’s award of damages. It is a
traditional and inherent power of the
judicial branch. Where a jury verdict
falls outside the range of fair and rea-
sonable compensation or results from
passion or prejudice, or if it is so large
that it shocks the judicial conscience,

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