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Now the Senate should pass the same bill, and Gov. Jim Doyle should sign it.
Wisconsin’s previous malpractice caps, set at $350,000 in 1995 and increased by indexing to $445,775, were struck down by the Wisconsin Supreme Court in July.
The court said the previous cap lacked a rational basis. It also said the cap failed to make a distinction between young and old victims.
A new bill calls for a $775,000 limit on pain and suffering. While opponents say the caps are still unfair to the most severely injured people, we must remember that there are no limits on economic damages, from health care costs or loss of future income.
One cannot make the argument that there is no compensation for victims.
On the page opposite this one today are two essays in our Sunday Debate about malpractice caps. La Crosse lawyer Tom Fitzpatrick argues that there should be no caps, because patients need to be fully compensated for serious injuries as a result of medical care. On the other side, Dr. Gary L. Bryant, a local physician, contends that high pain and suffering awards will drive up malpractice insurance rates and make it difficult for local clinics to attract doctors — particularly in the more risky subspecialties.
There is some evidence that Bryant is right. In 2004, Northern Illinois University researchers did a study that found 44 percent of respondents living in Southern Illinois lost access to a doctor as a result of high malpractice insu-rance costs. In those cases, the doctors either stopped practicing or left Illinois to avoid high malpractice insurance costs.
Since Wisconsin’s caps were lifted, a Dane County Circuit Court jury awarded $4.25 million in noneconomic damages to a malpractice victim — on top of more than $4 million in economic damages.
We think the medical community has made its case — that Wisconsin will be better off with some form of caps on non-economic pain and suffering awards. It will make for a more stable economic environment for medical practice in Wisconsin.
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