- A new bill in the Utah State Legislature would cap medical malpractice damages at $1 million total.
- The bill is lauded by some attorneys, health care professionals and insurers who believe that damages are often inflated by claimants.
- On the other hand, advocates against the bill shared emotional stories about the financial and emotional toll medical malpractice has wreaked on their family, which, they say, far exceeds $1 million.
A Utah House committee approved a bill Tuesday that would cap medical malpractice insurance payouts at $1 million.
Sponsored by Rep. Katy Hall, R-South Ogden, HB503 would only allow economic and noneconomic damages to be higher than $1 million if a person dies as a result, as required by the Utah Constitution.
What does the medical malpractice bill do?
The bill, HB503, would, if passed:
- Cap combined economic and noneconomic (re: compensation for pain, suffering and inconvenience) damages at $1 million, except for cases where medical malpractice results in death.
- Require plaintiffs to pay defendant’s attorney fees if a court finds that their claim has no merit.
- Limit when health care facilities can be held liable for provider’s actions, including that a hospital can’t be held responsible for the actions of a doctor it employs when the malpractice occurs outside of the hospital or outside of their current employment with the hospital.
- Modify the standard for punitive damages from “knowing and reckless indifference” to “willful or malicious disregard.”
If passed, the bill would go into effect on May 7.
Consequences for HB503
Nan Bassett, a medical malpractice defense lawyer with Kipp & Christian, told the House Business, Labor and Commerce Committee that she believes “many nonmeritorious” cases are filed as meritorious, leaving a financial and emotional cost on health care and insurance providers.
Advocates for the bill also told the committee they believe the current uncapped maximum payout for punitive damages is driving quality doctors away from Utah.
“Doctors are feeling more and more threatened by this because we’re seeing these demands and these (damages) that do exceed policy limits,” Bassett said. “It’s making many doctors feel like they don’t even have the ability to defend the case, even if they see it as a defensible case ... they need to protect their assets.”
Shawn McGarry, also a medical malpractice defense lawyer at Kipp & Christian, said that damages were frequently “artificially inflated,” increasing pressure on physicians and sometimes forcing them not to practice.
Meanwhile, advocates against the bill said they believe the opposite is true — saying that the economic price tag, much less the noneconomic price tag, amounts to far more than $1 million in their cases.
“I realized that there are real injuries out there. Accidents happen ... When mistakes happen, there should be recovery, and this bill would preclude the vast majority of recovery, even in the most valid of claims,” said Ashton Hyde, a medical malpractice attorney who spoke at length about cases he has worked on. He alleged that “big insurance” was pushing the bill forward in order to shift losses to taxpayers and claimants.
Victims of medical malpractice also testified to the committee.
“Due to a series of severe medical mistakes while our child was in the hospital, (our son) Oakley suffered two cardiac arrests, widespread organ damage, organ failure and several strokes,” Melissa Hansen told the committee. “Oakley’s ... injury left him with a traumatic brain injury, quadriplegia and life support. Our lives revolve entirely around meeting our son’s needs. Oakley is dependent on us for every basic need, from eating, breathing, hygiene, bowel movements, positioning, monitoring his health, all of it ... And yet his life is precious.”
“About 10 years ago the cost of caring for Oakley was $1 million per year, and of course, as you can imagine today the cost has gone up from there,” she said. “Oakley today is 30 and still living with the injuries caused by the medical malpractice. I beg you to consider our family,” she said.
To pass, the bill would need to clear a Senate committee and pass both chambers and be signed by the governor. The state’s legislative session ends next week.