There Is a Cap on Damages, but not Future Medical Expenses
Recently, a New Orleans woman, Lakisha Butler, won a lengthy battle in District Court against the pediatricians who were responsible for her daughter’s death due to medical malpractice six years earlier. Although the jury wanted to award $8 million in damages to Butler, Louisiana law sets a cap of $500,000 on any medical malpractice claim (minus attorney’s fees).
However, funeral and medical expenses can and will come out of the state’s Patient’s Compensation Fund. In addition, the fund can also cover continuing medical expenses beyond this $500,000 cap.
All Complaints Must Go Through a Medical Review Panel
In Louisiana, the rate of complaints lodged against medical professionals is close to seven percent. A large part of this is because state law mandates that each of these complaints first go through a medical review panel, staffed with physicians, to determine if there is even merit to the complaint. This panel determines whether the standard of care was breached (or failed to be observed) when the patient was treated.
The Louisiana Patient’s Compensation Fund Is Heavily Involved
Although the panel’s decision does not prevent someone from filing a claim, it is given evidentiary value in court. It is this panel that has only found merit in seven percent of the claims since 2000. Furthermore, the only physicians who can serve on this panel must also be a part of the Louisiana Patient’s Compensation Fund, and they are paid fairly well for the service.
And although this fund is adequately financed (totaling $828 million as of 2013), payouts from it traditionally have been surprisingly low, at times: although set up to compensate patients for their loss and expenses due to malpractice, the average payout per case is around $369,000. In addition, there have been complaints of the oversight board being very restrictive about covering future medical expenses/bills.
Doctors Guilty Of Medical Malpractice Do Not Necessarily Lose License
In Louisiana, doctors will typically lose their license to practice if they are found incompetent, but this is a vastly different, separate process from a medical malpractice claim, which the board reports is based more on a bad patient outcome that can sometimes be avoided through the doctor receiving additional training (even if they have faced multiple medical malpractice claims). The board specifically reserves license revocation for highly egregious instances.
Disciplinary Action Is Also Infrequent
Statistics reveal that the Louisiana Board of Medical Examiners has, traditionally, only determined that roughly 25 percent of the total complaints received warrant any kind of action, and they ruled in favor of the practitioner roughly 60 percent of the time (out of those total worthy complaints). This suggests that the review process may not be entirely unbiased and fair.
We Are Here To Help
It is clear that, in the state of Louisiana, any medical malpractice claims need to be brought by very experienced attorneys in this area. We firmly believe those medical malpractice victims and their loved ones deserve the greatest possible compensation to cope with the effects of malpractice and its lasting effects. We can help you to accomplish this objective by building a powerful case on your behalf. Contact Harrell & Nowak today for your consultation.