Louisiana liability cap upheld; trials still ahead

The Supreme Court is expected to see the issue again, but some attorneys say the Legislature could take it up first.

By Amy Lynn Sorrel, AMNews staff. March 5, 2007.

Louisiana's 32-year-old award cap in medical liability cases remains in place -- for now.

The state Supreme Court in February breathed some life back into the law that an appeals court in September 2006 struck down as setting an unconstitutionally low cap. The lower court said the $500,000 total damages limit, excluding future medical expenses, is worth only $160,000 in today's dollars.

The high court ruled that the question of whether the value of the cap unfairly burdened patients' access to recovery was never brought up in the lower courts and therefore could not be decided. So justices sent the two cases challenging the award limit back to the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeal and instructed the lower court to decide them on the original issues raised, whether the cap:

• Violates patients' due process rights by predetermining the amount they can recover.
• Violates the constitutional separation of powers and the authority of the courts by allowing the Legislature to decide an award limit.
• Is an unconstitutional special law that applies only to medical liability cases.

Doctors praised the high court ruling and remain confident in the validity of the cap, which has withstood several constitutional challenges. Doctors say the award limit has helped stabilize medical liability insurance rates.

"It is vital, especially in light of so many physicians leaving after Katrina," said Amy J. Phillips, director of the Louisiana State Medical Society's Dept. of Legal Affairs. "The cap makes doctors more secure and more likely to stay."