Senate Panel Votes For $1 Million Cap On Non-Economic Damages In Medical Malpractice Cases

Des Moines, Iowa — Republicans on a committee in the Iowa Senate have approved a bill to set a $1 million cap on non-economic, so-called pain and suffering damages in medical malpractice lawsuits.

Governor Reynolds says it’s one of her legislative priorities. Sandra Conlin, a lobbyist for the Iowa Hospital Association, says there’s been a tipping point, last spring’s $97 million jury verdict in a medical malpractice claim against an Iowa City hospital and a doctor.

Conlin says there are significant rate increases in medical malpractice insurance and lawsuits are being settled for higher amounts. Chip Baltimore, a former Republican legislator, says $97 million isn’t egregious for the family of the baby boy who will require 24/7 medical care his entire life after his skull was crushed. Baltimore is working as a lobbyist for Trial Lawyers for Justice.

The bill has cleared the Senate Judiciary Committee with the support of 11 Republicans. Mikayla Brockmeyer of Spirit Lake, a medical student at Des Moines University, told lawmakers many of her classmates are looking to practice elsewhere because of the liability issue.

Sam Clovis, a former Trump Administration official and the Republican Party’s nominee for state treasurer in 2012, is urging lawmakers to kill the bill. Clovis is suing western Iowa health care providers, alleging their negligence has left him paralyzed from the chest down after emergency surgery in 2019.

Thomas Slater, a West Des Moines attorney, says the rights of patients who’ve been profoundly injured by malpractice need to be protected.

Hospital executives say the new limit on medical malpractice awards would help with recruiting. Erin Muck is CEO of the Crawford County Memorial Hospital in Denison.

If the bill becomes law, Iowans would still be able to sue for larger amounts if the alleged negligence causes significant expenses or monetary losses to an injured patient, but non-economic or “pain and suffering” awards would be limited to $1 million.

Senators representing the four-county broadcast area were split on the vote for the bill, with Senator Jeff Taylor who represents Lyon and Sioux Counties voting no, and Senator Lynn Evans who represents O’ Brien and Osceola counties voting yes.

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