Defining Medical Malpractice Caps To Better Understand Them

Laws

There has been a lot in the news about medical malpractice caps.  This is because the new health are legislation is focusing on these medical malpractice caps to allegedly lower healthcare costs.  That won’t work.  But these caps have been the focus of a lot of news lately and have been very common.  Recently Wisconsin found that the medical malpractice cap was unconstitutional and awarded a victim her just compensation.  Other states have also found medical malpractice caps illegal.

But what are these medical malpractice caps?

Medical malpractice caps are caps on noneconomic damages.  These are damages such as pain and suffering.  This can be past pain and suffering and future pain and suffering.  These are damages from the emotional harm.

Medical malpractice caps seek to limit the amount of compensation that can be earned from noneconomic or pain and suffering.  But in the Wisconsin case, the victim there lost all four limbs.  The pain and suffering must have been tremendous.  Yet they want to cap that medical malpractice.  How horrible and unjust!

No matter what, none of the medical malpractice caps are for economic damages thus far.  These are damages caused such as medical bills, lost wages from work, lost earnings from not being able to perform the same job, and other economic damages which can be calculated.  Only the noneconomic or pain and suffering is capped.

Thus, medical malpractice victims are being limited in what pain they can seek compensation for.  Said differently, victims of medical malpractice cannot receive compensation for the harm done to them by a doctor.  So a doctor or healthcare provider can maul a patient and cause tortuous harm and pain, but that is limited.  Whereas the lost time from work is compensable.

That makes no sense!

Victims should be able to recover compensation for their pain and suffering.  They should be able to heal with interference and receive compensation to help them heal.  It shouldn’t be victims that are capped to compensation, but defendant healthcare providers capped to salary for causing massive medical malpractice.

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