Wisconsin Senator Working to Change Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Process

A Wisconsin Senator is trying once again to make it possible for more family members to file a medical malpractice lawsuit against healthcare providers in wrongful death cases. Last session, Milwaukee Senator Nikiya Harris Dodd tried to abolish a law allowing only spouses, minor children and parents of minor children file a med mal case against medical professionals for wrongful death.

“A parent should not have to suffer having lost a child without having their day in court,” said Democratic Senator Harris Dodd.

For her second attempt, Harris Dodd has scaled her proposal back, in hopes of getting it passed this time. The terms now include allowing parents of college-aged children ─ under age 27 ─ to seek damages for wrongful death. Adult children would still be barred from suing medical professionals over the untimely deaths of their parents.

“This might be a little bit more appealing to my colleagues on the other side of the aisle,” Harris Dodd said, in reference to the Republican Party who currently controls the Wisconsin State Senate.

State laws making lawyers shy away from malpractice cases

Wisconsin lawyers have become discouraged from taking on many medical malpractices cases lately, due to changes in the state law. The Milawaukee Journal Sentinel reports that there were 113 cases for mediation in 2014, which is the first required step when trying to take a medical malpractice case to court. This number is almost 50 less than the total of 160 requests received in 2013 and nearly 300 less than the total of 410 amassed in 1987.

Currently, the state fund that doles out payments for medical malpractice settlements has a surplus of $581 million, as of June 30, 2014. Harris Dodd calls the excess funds an “exorbitant amount of money,” noting that very few medical malpractice victims ever receive compensation for their injuries. The board governing the malpractice fund recently agreed to decrease the amount of money doctors are required to pay into the fund by approximately 34 percent.

Bill will likely face opposition from both parties

Although Harris Dodd has scaled her proposition down, there’s a good chance the legislation will face opposition from Republicans and even some Democrats.

“It would be counter to the direction we’ve been going on tort reform,” said Rep. Jim Ott (R-Mequon), speaking in broad terms about legislation limiting lawsuits that can be brought and the amounts juries can award plaintiffs. Ott will serve as chair of the Assembly judiciary committee in 2015.

Harris Dodd doesn’t just believe her bill will see opposition the second time around ─ she thinks all Democratic bills will have a tough time.

“It will be more challenging and harder (for Democrats) to pass legislation than it has been in many years,” she said.

She hopes to improve the changes of the bill being passed by naming it “Erin’s Law” ─ allowing her to put a face to the legislation. The bill is named after 20-year-old Erin Rice, who died in 1999 after an emergency room physician at UW Hospital and Clinics misdiagnosed her condition, according to court records.

After being diagnosed with pneumonia, Erin was sent home with antibiotics and cough medicine. Two weeks later she died of dilated cardiomyopathy, which is more commonly known as an enlarged heart.

Resources Resources