On Feb. 4, 2010 in the case of Lebron v. Gottlief Memorial Hospital, the Supreme Court of Illinois struck down the cap on non-economic damages in medical malpractice cases, holding that the cap, which had limited damages to $500,000 for doctors and $1,000,000 for hospitals, is unconstitutional because the law violates “separation of powers” doctrine. The Supreme Court noted that such a cap impedes a jury’s right to establish reasonable damages.
Illinois joins Ohio, Alabama, New Mexico, New Hampshire, Wisconsin and Kansas in declaring that caps on non-economic damages are unconstitutional. Maryland currently allows such caps