House Panel Passes Med Mal Reforms

Thursday, March 6th, 2003 Legislation & Regulation Liability

The House of Representatives could vote on medical malpractice liability reform legislation as early as next week, following approval of a White House-backed bill by a key House committee. The House Judiciary Committee approved the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-Cost Timely Healthcare—or HEALTH—Act Wednesday, but only after bitter debate. The measure, which won House approval last year in a slightly different form, would limit noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases to $250,000 and would cap punitive damages at the greater of $250,000 or twice compensatory damages. The measure, which was drafted by Rep. James Greenwood, R-Pa., also would limit any defendant‘s liability to its proportion of the responsibility.

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http://www.businessinsurance.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=2082

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