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Medical Malpractice Bill Dies in Senate

Democrats Block Proposed Limits On Damage Awards

Jason Phillips, left, and daughter Brittany, 13, join Louis De George, with sign, in opposing the proposed curbs on medical malpractice damage awards. (Steve Marcus -- Las Vegas Sun Via AP)

By Helen Dewar

Washington Post Staff Writer

Thursday, July 10, 2003; Page A04

Senate Democrats yesterday blocked White House-supported legislation to limit damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, probably dooming the initiative in the 108th Congress but ensuring it a prominent role in next year's campaigns.

The largely party-line vote was 49 to 48 in favor of taking up the bill -- 11 votes short of the 60 needed to cut off a Democratic filibuster. Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) pulled the bill from the floor and moved to other business.

The House approved the legislation earlier this year, and it has been a centerpiece of President Bush's effort to overhaul the civil liability system, primarily by limiting court-ordered awards to victims.

But several Republicans said they viewed yesterday's vote as the beginning of what could be a long fight over proposed changes in rules for civil litigation. The issue could play a large role in next year's presidential and congressional campaigns.

Senate Republican Conference Chairman Rick Santorum (Pa.) told reporters earlier this week that GOP senators wanted to bring up the bill, even though they knew they would lose, to "turn up the heat back home on senators who are not being responsive to the problems in their own states."

The GOP proposal, sponsored by Sen. John Ensign (Nev.) and supported by Frist, a physician, called for a $250,000 cap on damages for pain and suffering in malpractice cases. It would have limited punitive damages to $250,000 or twice the amount of damages for medical expenses, lost wages and other economic costs, whichever is greater. Fees of lawyers who take malpractice cases on a contingency basis would also be limited.

Republicans said their proposal would keep soaring premiums for medical malpractice insurance from driving doctors out of business, leaving patients without care in many areas. They said at least 19 states face a "crisis" in health care because of this, with 25 more at risk.

"The vote is [on] whether we consider there is a medical malpractice crisis in America," said Majority Whip Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.), who led the fight for the bill. "This is a national crisis that ought to be dealt with at the national level."

Democrats accused insurance companies of raising premiums to make up for investment losses. Malpractice victims, they said, should not be denied their day in court in order to protect those who have harmed them, including physicians, hospitals, HMOs and medical device manufacturers. "When 100,000 people die every year because of medical mistakes . . . we ought to give people a chance to find a way to address the economic consequences of those mistakes," said Minority Leader Thomas A. Daschle (D-S.D.).

Democrats have rallied behind an alternative offered by Sens. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Lindsey O. Graham (R-S.C.). Most Republicans appear cool to the idea of a compromise. The Durbin-Graham bill seeks to improve information on medical errors, repeal the insurance industry's exemption from federal antitrust laws and provide tax relief for doctors in high-risk specialties.

Behind the partisan struggle on the issue was an intense battle between the nation's trial lawyers, allied with the Democrats, and the insurance industry, physicians and businesses that generally lean Republican. In a sign of how these groups may use next year's campaigns to further their aims, the American Association of Health Plans said yesterday that it is joining with medical societies in the early primary and caucus states of New Hampshire and Iowa to mobilize local doctors to help them make their views known to the presidential candidates.

In yesterday's roll call, no Democrats voted to consider the bill, while two Republicans -- Graham and Sen. Richard C. Shelby (Ala.) -- broke party ranks to help kill the measure.

© 2003 The Washington Post Company