(Spirit Lake)– Tort reform, more specifically a $250,000 cap on medical malpractice claims, was a topic of discussion at a legislative forum Saturday in Spirit Lake. State Representative Megan Jones told the audience she wants that increased, saying the original bill was offensive to her. She says it’s wrong in the first place to try to put a value on human life…especially when the victim is a baby…
“We don’t know if they’re going to be a doctor, a lawyer, if they’re going to be Bill Gates. We don’t know. We don’t know what that little baby is worth, so they’re not going to have economic damages there. You know they’ll have medical costs and thing like that, but when it comes to lost wages that’s not there for that little baby. That baby’s life is worth $250,000. So I can buy into a cap. I can. But that bill was wrong from the get-go. $250,000? That was cruel.”
State Senator Zach Whiting is the floor manager of a bill in the Senate that addresses the issue. He says he’s questioning the amount of settlements that go to lawyers, especially those from outside the state…
“Is it just that 30, 40 percent goes to an out of state trial lawyer and not to the family? That’s another question of justice.”
State Representative John Wills says trying to come up with a cap that’s reasonable but fair is going to be the real challenge…
“But $250,000, that’s too little. 30 million is bit too much. Even to ask for 60 million, that’s way out of range of even the greatest possibility of what somebody should be paid. But they’re asking for it because they can. And so what we really need to do is set a limit. And I don’t know, I’d rather set a limit that could go up as time passes so that we don’t have to back every five years and re-do this.”
Whiting added a Senate Subcommittee is scheduled to meet today (Mon.) on the matter.
