Dave Stafford forwww.theindianalawyer.com
A proposal to raise the cap on medical malpractice damages by $400,000, index future increases to inflation and make other reforms to the Indiana Medical Malpractice Act will be introduced to a Senate committee Monday.
The Senate Judiciary Committee will take up Senate Bill 152 at the conclusion of Monday’s full Senate calendar that begins at 1:30 p.m. The med-mal reform bill is a result of a study committee that considered changes to caps that haven’t been increased in 17 years. The bill proposes increasing the maximum award from the current limit of $1.25 million to $1.65 million. Increases would be adjusted in the future according to increases in the consumer price index.
The bill also would:
- Allow plaintiffs to file a claim in court without first going through a medical review panel if the claim is no more than $75,000. Currently, only claims of $15,000 or less may be tried directly to court;
- Provides sanctions up to default judgment as to liability for parties, lawyers or medical review panelists who fail to act as required; and
- Cap attorney fees at 31 percent of any med-mal recovery. Statute currently caps fees at 15 percent on awards from the Patient’s Compensation Fund but does not limit attorney fees collected from a health care provider’s insurance.
The committee also will consider Senate Bill 1, which proposes replacing administrative law judges with administrative courts.
