A case involving a paralyzed restaurant owner who sued a local hospital for medical malpractice has almost made it to the state Supreme Court. The case questioned the constitutionality of a $350,000 cap that the state Legislature placed on malpractice damages.
Some say the cap helps keep insurance costs down by limiting multi-million-dollar settlements. Others, including Fulton County Superior Court Judge Marvin Arrington, say the cap violates the equal protection guarantee under both the state and U.S. Constitution.
In a ruling that challenged the damages cap, Judge Arrington wrote, “Persons suffering the exact same personal injuries at the hands of other tortfeasors — including other professionals — are not subject to such caps.”
The plaintiff, Cheon Park, fell from a ladder at his home in 2006 and was treated at WellStar Douglas Hospital, where he was X-rayed, diagnosed with a dislocated shoulder and discharged that day. Three days later, Park was still in debilitating pain and went Grady Memorial Hospital to be X-rayed again. His spine was so badly damaged that he is now a quadriplegic, with no use of his legs and only limited use of his arms.
After Park sued and Arrington ruled in his favor, hospital group WellStar Health System and the medical liability insurer MAG Mutual appealed the ruling to the Georgia Supreme Court, which was supposed to hear the case Monday.
But yesterday, WellStar submitted a motion to withdraw its appeal. The Supreme Court granted the motion.
“It’s very disappointing,” says Allie Wall, executive director of consumer-rights lobbyist group Georgia Watch. “We strongly believe that the caps are unconstitutional, and that once the Georgia Supreme Court has an opportunity to review the law, they would agree with us. We were really hoping that the Park case was that opportunity.
“It’s very clear that the defendants didn’t want this to go forward. They were concerned about what the ruling would be.”
