The WSJ on Wisconsin’s unfortunate decision to overturn malpractice caps
“A 4-3… decision last month by the Wisconsin Supreme Court that overturned a $350,000 state cap on noneconomic damages in medical malpractice lawsuits ‘toppled what had been a highly successful medical liability reform,’ a Wall Street Journal editorial states. According to the editorial, studies have found that noneconomic damages ‘are the damages … that tend to drive up insurance rates and drive doctors to other states.’ The decision by the court that a cap on noneconomic damages is ‘patently arbitrary’ and has ‘no rational relationship to a legitimate government interest’ represents a ‘highly creative judgment,’ the editorial states, adding that ‘if discouraging frivolous legal claims to make health care more affordable and available for regular citizens isn’t a ‘legitimate government interest,’ we’d like to know what is.”‘