Appeal Court Says Louisiana's $500,000 Malpractice Cap Too Low
Associated Press
September 28, 2006

Louisiana's $500,000 cap on medical malpractice damages, set in 1975, is unconstitutional because it no longer provides an adequate remedy to patients, the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal in Lake Charles has ruled in a 3-2 decision.

A $500,000 award would be worth about $160,000 today, the opinion, issued Wednesday, said. The court said evidence indicates the cap would have to be raised to $1.6 million or $1.7 million to provide the same protection as it did 31 years ago.

"In either case, we find the current $500,000 cap fails to provide an adequate remedy to today's severely injured plaintiffs, and thus, is unconstitutional. ," the ruling says.

The opinion was by Judge Elizabeth Pickett, who was joined by judges Billy Howard Ezell, and James T. Genovese. Dissenting were judges Sylvia Cooks and Oswald Decuir.

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An affidavit by the director of the state Board Of Medical Examiners, which was introduced in this case, says the number of doctors in Louisiana has risen every year for four decades, Schrumpf said.

Malpractice rates are going to go up regardless of who wins the lawsuit, which will now be argued before the state Supreme Court, Schrumpf said.

Joanne Doroshow, co-founder of consumer watchdog Americans for Insurance Reform, said "a ton of evidence" shows that there is no correlation between malpractice caps and malpractice insurance rates.

"The rate activity in the states with caps is the same as in states without caps," Doroshow said.

In 2005, a study published in Health Affairs magazine found that medical malpractice accounted for less than 1 percent of health care spending. The study also found that defensive medicine, where doctors run tests or do procedures to lower their chances of being sued, makes up no more than 9 percent of total spending.

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For a copy of the complete article, contact AIR.