Chicago Tribune, IL
May 12 2005

Capitol uproar on malpractice caps
Screams fill chamber as lawmakers debate

By Christi Parsons and Erika Slife
Tribune staff reporters
Published May 12, 2005

SPRINGFIELD — Even as trial lawyers and unions began furiously
lobbying lawmakers to oppose a measure that would cap non-economic
damages in doctor malpractice cases at $250,000 for physicians and
$500,000 for hospitals, a House committee advanced it Wednesday.

But after lawmakers screamed at each other during a debate that
lasted for hours in the full House, they ultimately rejected a plan
to raise those numbers to $1 million for doctors and $2 million for
hospitals.

As Democrats pledged to pass some sort of bill capping malpractice
awards, doctors pledged to work to strip some of the stricter
insurance regulations from the pending proposal in the House.

With the roiling debate poised to go deep into the legislative
session, trial lawyers are making their case to lawmakers, in part by
introducing victims of malpractice.

“If you looked at the mother who came to my office with a child in a
wheelchair who will have to be taken care of for years to come, if
you think $250,000 will cover that, I pray you never have this
situation in your family,” said Rep. Lou Lang (D-Skokie).

With shortages of doctors in some areas of the state, Rep. Dave
Winters (R-Shirland) argued action is needed now.

“How many Illinois citizens will die because they cannot find a
doctor to treat them?” Winters said. “We educate more doctors than
any other state in North America. Yet they are not coming back here
to practice, because they can’t make a living here.”

David Miller (D-Calumet City), a dentist, said he understood the
frustrations of physicians, but doctors leave Illinois for many
reasons. “It’s disingenuous to suggest that the lack of caps [is] the
only reason doctors are leaving,” he said.

In the Senate, lawmakers passed a measure to require schools to
include other acts of genocide, in addition to the Jewish Holocaust,
to lesson plans. The bill, which now goes to the governor’s desk,
would require schools to teach about genocide in Armenia, Ukraine,
Cambodia, Bosnia, Rwanda and Sudan.

Although the legislation passed both chambers by wide margins, it
irked some educators who believe legislators impose too many programs
on teachers without sending state funds to pay for them.

Supporters of the bill said the value of teaching about current
events is important and that it wouldn’t burden teachers.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich said he hadn’t seen the bill but that it sounded
like something he would sign.