State high courts consider challenges to medical malpractice award caps

While the White House is working to soothe the fears of opponents who say that President Obama's reform proposals don't do enough to tame medical malpractice costs, a pair of cases going before high courts in Maryland and Georgia may have the opposite effect. Shortly, high courts in those states will decide whether existing caps on non-economic damages will remain in place for medical malpractice cases.

The Maryland Court of Appeals will hear arguments as to whether the state's caps apply to all med mal cases, or only to those that go through arbitration. Meanwhile, Georgia's Supreme Court is addressing a trial court decision that dubbed the state's $350,000 cap on non-economic damages to be unconstitutional.

It doesn't help matters that physicians are also waiting anxiously for the decision in a case pending before the Illinois Supreme Court that could eliminate the state's $500,000 cap on non-economic damages.

Doctors nationwide argue that losing such caps can lead to quick increases in medical malpractice premiums. However, there seems to be no national consensus on the issue, so such legal challenges are likely to continue.

To learn more about this trend:
- read this American Medical News piece

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