Although the situation for medical malpractice victims in Wisconsin has improved, there is still some unfairness in medical malpractice caps. The good news is that the cap has been raised this last month from $445,000 to $750,000, due to the unconstitutional situations left behind by the first cap. The bad news is that victims are still being neglected due to petty, unrealistic fears advertised by the state’s physicians.
Advertisement from Wisconsin’s doctors say that caps are keeping doctors from the fear of being sued, ensuring a bountiful supply of doctors in the local areas, that health care costs are in danger of skyrocketing without caps, or that the cap takes money from the pockets of attorneys instead of harming the malpractice victims. This is a gross untruth, as has been portrayed in recent studies. Only the victims are hurt by malpractice caps, to extreme degrees. Jessica Greenfield was diabled by medical malpractice in Wisconsin, left without the ability to eat and drink on her own. She now visits the hospital roughly 16 times a year and has been hospitalized 21 times in five years. Jurors stated that her pain was worth $4.25 million, a sum horrifically undershot by the current state malpractice cap. Victims such as Jessica are left to fend for themselves financially, without proper compensation.
The state of Wisconsin has released its own information concerning the unfair situation of malpractice caps on victims:
- Wisconsin’s Academy of Trial Lawyers has repeatedly released that there is no evidence that large pain and suffering awards drive doctors away.
- The Wisconsin Insurance Commisioner’s Office states that malpractice insurance represents just 0.04% of total health care costs.
- Expansion Management, a company that helps businesses weigh the costs of relocation, claims that Wisconsin is the lowest state in the country in terms of malpractice costs as a proportion of overall medical expenses.
If you or someone you know has been injured by medical malpractice, contact a personal injury lawyer such as Harvey L. Walner and Associates, LTD in Chicago, Illinois.
*Read the Wausau Daily Herald for more information.
