Structured Settlement Reform: S. 5697 (2003)

| November 15, 2016

Provided for a fix to the Desiderio decision. The Desiderio

Provided for a fix to the Desiderio decision. The Desiderio decision resulted from poorly drafted language of a 1986 law designed to address tort liability and resulted in the double-counting of inflation on judgments against hospitals; in one case a $40 million judgment into an almost $140 million judgment, which was upheld by the New York State’s Court of Appeals. Other provisions were included that were favorable to the trial bar: accelerated payments to plaintiffs; a provision which allows up to $500,000 in damages for pain and suffering, or 35% of the pain and suffering award, whichever is greater to be awarded as a lump sum, rather than the old limit of $250,000; and a reduction in the time pain and suffering awards are to be paid from 10 years to 8 years.