 |
 |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|
|
|
|
Judd v. Drezga11/5/2004
tute must be substantially equal in value or other benefit to the remedy abrogated . . . .
. . . f there is no substitute or alternative remedy provided, abrogation of the remedy . . . may be justified only if there is a clear social or economic evil to be eliminated and the elimination of an existing legal remedy is not an arbitrary or unreasonable means for achieving the objective.
Berry, 717 P.2d at 680. The Attorney General invites us to disavow our Berry line of cases, and to recognize that by adopting the Berry approach we have assumed powers and duties not properly held by the court, but reserved for the legislature. This we decline to do. However, we recognize an obligation of deference to legislative judgments in a Berry review, and to the extent this differs from our prior application of Berry, those prior applications are disavowed. Accordingly, we now address the question at hand--whether the cap on quality of life damages violates the Open Courts Clause.
A. Substitute Remedy
Proceeding to our application of the Berry test, it is self-evident that the cap on quality of life damages, which does nothing more than reduce Athan's recovery, does not provide a substitute remedy substantially equal to that abrogated. Accordingly, we must consider the second portion of the Berry test as it pertains to the damage cap--whether the damage cap represents a reasonable, non-arbitrary method of reducing increasing health care costs and other dangers that the legislature views as clear social or economic evils.
B. Clear Social or Economic Evil
Recovery of quality of life damages in Athan's case is limited to $250,000 by Utah Code section 78-14-7.1(1)(a). Utah Code Ann. § 78-14-7.1(1)(a) (2002). The legislature's stated purpose in enacting the cap is as follows:
The legislature finds and declares that the number of suits and claims for damages and the amount of judgments and settlements arising from health care has increased greatly in recent years. Because of these increases the insurance industry has substantially increased the cost of medical malpractice insurance. The effect of increased insurance premiums and increased claims is increased health care cost, both through the health care providers passing the cost of premiums to the patient and through the provider's practicing defensive medicine because he views a patient as a potential adversary in a lawsuit. Further, certain health care providers are discouraged from continuing to provide services because of the high cost and possible unavailability of malpractice insurance.
In view of these recent trends and with the intention of alleviating the adverse effects which these trends are producing in the public's health care system, it is necessary to protect the public interest by enacting measures designed to encourage private insurance companies to continue to provide health-related malpractice insurance . . . .
Id. § 78-14-2 (2002). Although the empirical truth of these findings is a matter of some dispute, we will not undertake the same investigation as the legislature, reviewing its data-gathering methods and conclusions to determine whether the stated legislative findings are perfectly correct. A court is ill-suited to undertake investigation of such a nature. Our inquiry under the "clear social or economic evil" portion of the Berry test is more limited.
Both parties have cited various studies and articles, that ostensibly support their position that there is or is not a crisis in the health care industry caused in part by increased malpractice insurance premiums stemming from the possibility of unlimited awards for quali
Page 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 Utah Personal Injury Attorneys
Personal Injury Lawyers
|
| |
to fill out a simple form to connect to Personal Injury Lawyers in your area.
|
|