FreedomWorks Supports Renewed Push for Medical Malpractice Caps in Wisconsin

Madison, WI – Sen. Scott Fitzgerald (R-Juneau) and Rep. Gielow (R-Mequon) have proposed legislation that will reinstate caps on jury awards for non-economic damages at $750,000. With Gov. Doyle’s refusal to put into place a minimum level of safeguards against rising healthcare costs and a deluge of trial lawyers, this legislation couldn’t come at a more critical time.

Last summer the Wisconsin Supreme Court struck down Wisconsin’s caps on non-economic damages. These are damages above and beyond any compensation paid to cover costs or lost income. This past fall, the legislature quickly remedied any concerns and provided a solution that ensured good doctors can stay here in Wisconsin free from fear of frivolous lawsuits, while ensuring that careless doctors will be punished and their victims will have access to just compensation.

Unfortunately, Gov. Doyle refused to support these fair and reasonable measures. Without this, Wisconsin will continue to lose physicians to neighboring states. Rural areas are getting hit especially hard as specialists keep moving out. The Wisconsin Hospital Association says doctor shortages have reached “unprecedented levels.”

Where doctors are moving out of the state, trial lawyers are moving in. Just last week lawyers could attend a Wisconsin Law Journal sponsored seminar in Milwaukee and attend a class titled, “Tools for Trial to Get the Million Dollar Verdict.”

Without caps on jury awards for non-economic damages, doctors will face higher malpractice insurance and more lawsuits. As a result, the costs of medicine rise for the consumer. Currently more than 80 percent of malpractice lawsuits are won by doctors or healthcare providers who incur substantial costs fighting frivolous lawsuits.

Messrs. Fitzgerald and Gielow’s new proposal again addresses the concerns of the Supreme Court and ensures that Wisconsin’s tort climate will attract doctors – not trial lawyers.

“This new proposal should be expedited through the legislature and signed with all due haste by the governor. Between rising premiums, trial lawyer seminars, and million-dollar jury verdicts, Wisconsin faces a very real crisis. We need a climate that attracts doctors, not more trial lawyers,” remarked Cameron Sholty, Wisconsin State Director of FreedomWorks.