An Illinois neurosurgeon who advocates for caps gets hit with a $2M malpractice verdict

“Dr. Thomas Hurley, president-elect of the Illinois State Neurosurgical Society, told the Chicago Sun-Times his case illustrates the problem of allowing big awards that raise doctors’ insurance rates.

He said his annual malpractice insurance premium would probably increase from the current $245,000 to $300,000 or more.

The legal action was by Richard McCorry, a Chicago factory worker who went into surgery with a bad back and came out paralyzed, the Sun-Times said.

The surgery occurred in 1994, Hurley’s second year of practice.

Hurley said he warned McCorry, as he does all of his patients, that spinal surgery is risky and can result in paralysis. He told the newspaper in 12 years of practice, performing 150 surgeries annually, that was the only such incident.”