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Every action has a consequence. It is these consequences that hold people accountable. Medical malpractice lawsuits not only hold doctors and nurses accountable but they also provide compensation to victims whose lives have been changed forever. Medical malpractice caps are unfair laws which limit medical malpractice victim’s recovery as well as giving immunity to those who have done them wrong.
In Milwaukee there are now two lawsuits that challenge the state’s medical malpractice caps. One case challenges the state’s $750,000 cap on non-economic damages. The other case challenges a separate $250,000 cap on total damages against UW-Madison doctors and is pending in the state Court of Appeals. One of the Milwaukee cases involves Ascaris Mayo, a 53-year-old mother of four who had to have all of her limbs amputated in 2011 after a strep infection went undetected at Columbia St. Mary’s Hospital in Milwaukee, the Journal-Sentinel reported.
William Gleisner, an attorney with the Wisconsin Association for Justice, wrote that the $250,000 cap is “an insult to the citizens of Wisconsin because it encourages public employees to believe that there is no downside to their failure to adhere to those basic standards, regulations or guidelines.”
As experienced Virginia (VA) medical malpractice lawyers we know that many Americans believe that a big problem in our country is frivolous lawsuits. However that is just not true.
[Click here to read about five medical malpractice myths our med mal lawyers debunked]
The courts are often the only path to justice for families that are harmed by the pharmaceutical industry and medical errors. Yet the law is stacked against ordinary people in many states the medical malpractice cap has never been raised for inflation. Filing a lawsuit is expensive, it requires medical analysis, data analysis, professional testimony and more.
A personal injury lawyer would not file a frivolous law suit because they are normally paid on a contingency basis, which means that if they lose, they get nothing and lose all the money they have put into the case. The reality is, there is an epidemic of medical negligence, not lawsuits. Two studies of the patient safety movement have shown that not only are hundreds of thousands of patients injured every year in the health care system, but very few of them sue.
CT