Is Illinois a Medical Malpractice Hell Hole?
Side note: It is, according to the annual American Tort Reform Association’s “Judicial Hellholes” report. Cook county is listed as the number 5 worst county in the country while St. Clair and Madison counties made the “watch list”; Cook county has the infamous distinction of being a former #1. The list is based on the outlandish size of medical malpractice payouts and the gross miscarriages of justice faced by medical malpractice defendants.
By The Pantagraph Editorial Board
The American Tort Reform Association’s annual “Judicial Hellholes” report is out and, no surprise, Illinois jurisdictions figure prominently again.
Cook County is listed fifth and St. Clair and Madison counties are on the “watch list,” with the report noting of the latter, “This former No. 1 Judicial Hellhole is again moving up the charts.”
What is surprising is that McLean County is on the association’s list of “other areas to watch” — or “dishonorable mentions.”
How did McLean County get on such a list?
The report points to two incidents. In one, the head of the Illinois Manufacturers Association was forced to comply with a subpoena to testify here in a case, which the “judicial watchers” said was unnecessary because the IMA was not a party to the lawsuit. The other incident involved two civil trials involving the same defendant being scheduled the same day in front of different judges.
