Full Text of SB1979 94th General Assembly
SB1979sam003 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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Sen. Frank C. Watson
Filed: 4/11/2005
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LRB094 11877 WGH 45013 a |
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| AMENDMENT TO SENATE BILL 1979
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| AMENDMENT NO. ______. Amend Senate Bill 1979, AS AMENDED, | 3 |
| in the introductory clause of Section 5-10, after "2-1109,", by | 4 |
| inserting "2-1118,"; and | 5 |
| in the introductory clause of Section 5-10, after "2-1704.5,", | 6 |
| by inserting "2-1706.5,"; and
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| in Section 5-10, by inserting immediately below Sec. 2-1114 the | 8 |
| following:
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| "(735 ILCS 5/2-1118)
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| (This Section was repealed by P.A. 89-7, which has been | 11 |
| held
unconstitutional)
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| Sec. 2-1118. Exceptions. Notwithstanding the
provisions of | 13 |
| Section 2-1117, in
any action in which the trier of fact | 14 |
| determines that
the injury or damage for which recovery is | 15 |
| sought was caused by an act
involving the discharge into the | 16 |
| environment of any pollutant, including
any waste, hazardous
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| substance, irritant or contaminant, including, but not limited | 18 |
| to smoke,
vapor, soot, fumes,
acids, alkalis, asbestos, toxic | 19 |
| or corrosive chemicals, radioactive waste
or mine tailings, and | 20 |
| including any such material intended to be recycled,
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| reconditioned or reclaimed, any defendants found liable shall | 22 |
| be jointly
and severally liable for
such damage. However, | 23 |
| Section 2-1117 shall apply to a defendant who is a
response
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| action contractor. As used in this Section, "response action | 2 |
| contractor"
means an individual,
partnership, corporation, | 3 |
| association, joint venture or other commercial
entity or an | 4 |
| employee, agent, sub-contractor, or consultant thereof which
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| enters into a contract, for the performance of
remedial or | 6 |
| response action, or for the identification, handling, storage,
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| treatment or disposal of a pollutant, which is entered into | 8 |
| between any
person or entity and a response action contractor | 9 |
| when such response action
contractor is not liable for the | 10 |
| creation or maintenance of the condition to be
ameliorated | 11 |
| under the contract.
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| Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 2-1117, in any | 13 |
| medical
malpractice action, as defined in Section 2-1704, based | 14 |
| upon negligence,
any defendants found liable shall be jointly | 15 |
| and severally liable.
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| (Source: P.A. 84-1431.)"; and
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| in Section 5-10, by inserting immediately below Sec. 2-1704.5 | 18 |
| the following: | 19 |
| "(735 ILCS 5/2-1706.5 new) | 20 |
| Sec. 2-1706.5. Standards for economic and non-economic | 21 |
| damages. In any medical malpractice action in which economic | 22 |
| and non-economic damages may be awarded, the following | 23 |
| standards shall apply: | 24 |
| (1) Except as provided in paragraph (5), in a case of | 25 |
| an award against a hospital and its personnel or hospital | 26 |
| affiliates, as defined in Section 10.8 of the Hospital | 27 |
| Licensing Act, the total amount of non-economic damages | 28 |
| shall not exceed $500,000 awarded to all plaintiffs in any | 29 |
| civil action arising out of the care. | 30 |
| (2) Except as provided in paragraph (5), in the case of | 31 |
| an award against a physician and the physician's business | 32 |
| or corporate entity and personnel or health care |
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| professional, the total amount of non-economic damages | 2 |
| shall not exceed $250,000 awarded to all plaintiffs in any | 3 |
| civil action arising out of the care. | 4 |
| (3) In awarding damages in a medical malpractice case, | 5 |
| the finder of fact shall render verdicts with a specific | 6 |
| award of damages for economic loss, if any, and a specific | 7 |
| award of damages for non-economic loss, if any. | 8 |
| (4) In any medical malpractice action where an | 9 |
| individual plaintiff earns less than the annual average | 10 |
| weekly wage, as determined by the Worker's Compensation | 11 |
| Commission, at the time the action is filed, any award may | 12 |
| include an amount equal to the wage the individual | 13 |
| plaintiff earns or the annual average weekly wage. | 14 |
| (5) In a case where the plaintiff's care involved | 15 |
| negligence that was the primary cause of any of the | 16 |
| following outcomes as determined by the court: (i) the | 17 |
| plaintiff is hemiplegic, paraplegic, or quadriplegic | 18 |
| resulting in a total permanent functional loss of 1 or more | 19 |
| limbs caused by 1 or more of the following:
injury to the | 20 |
| brain or injury to the spinal cord, (ii) the plaintiff has | 21 |
| permanently impaired cognitive capacity rendering him or | 22 |
| her incapable of making independent, responsible life | 23 |
| decisions and permanently incapable of independently | 24 |
| performing the activities of normal, daily living, or (iii) | 25 |
| there has been permanent loss of or damage to a | 26 |
| reproductive organ resulting in the inability to | 27 |
| procreate, the following standards for awarding | 28 |
| non-economic damages shall apply: | 29 |
| (A) the total amount of non-economic damages shall | 30 |
| not exceed $750,000 awarded to all plaintiffs in any | 31 |
| civil action arising out of the care against a hospital | 32 |
| and its personnel or hospital affiliates, as defined in | 33 |
| Section 10.8 of the Hospital Licensing Act; and | 34 |
| (B) the total amount of non-economic damages shall |
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| not exceed $500,000 awarded to all plaintiffs in any | 2 |
| civil action arising out of the care against a | 3 |
| physician and the physician's business or corporate | 4 |
| entity and personnel or health care professional. | 5 |
| (6) The court shall reduce an award of damages in | 6 |
| excess of the limitations set forth in this Section to the | 7 |
| amount of the appropriate limitation set forth in this | 8 |
| Section. The jury shall not be advised by the court or by | 9 |
| counsel for either party of the limitations set forth in | 10 |
| this Section. ".
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