With caps coming, Illinois’ lawyers are racing to chase ambulances
“Down the stretch they come.

Attorneys are furiously filing medical malpractice lawsuits in Cook County in a race to beat Gov. Blagojevich’s signature on a bill that caps awards in such cases.

Since legislative leaders announced a deal on caps last Wednesday, 58 medical malpractice lawsuits have been filed in Cook County — three to four times the number normally filed . . .

. . . ‘We expected it, we predicted it, we warned about it, and now it’s happening,’ said Craig Backs, president of the Illinois State Medical Society. ‘None of this is the least bit surprising, but clearly this is a good news/bad news situation. The good news is, it reinforces what we’ve been saying all along. The bad news is, it reinforces what we’ve been saying all along.'”