Medical Malpractice Bill Fails In Senate

By Steven Brostoff, Washington Editor

NU Online News Service, April 7, 4:28 p.m. EDT?Medical malpractice reform legislation has failed again in the Senate.[@@]

S. 2207, a bill which would have capped non-economic and punitive damages in cases involving obstetrical/gynecological services and emergency room and trauma care services could not muster the 60 votes needed today to invoke cloture, which would have prevented a filibuster of the controversial measure.

The final vote on the cloture petition was 49-48. S. 2207 will now likely be removed from the Senate's calendar.

This is the second time that the Senate has tried to enact medical malpractice reform by focusing legislation on specialties that have been particularly hard hit by malpractice insurance premium increases.

An earlier bill designed for ob/gyn services also failed to muster the 60 votes needed for cloture.

Anne Sittmann, a representative of the Des Plaines, Ill.-based Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, praised Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., for continuing to make medical liability reform a priority.

"The cloture vote today means the need for broad-based medical liability reform cannot even be debated on the floor of the U.S. Senate," Ms. Sittmann said.

She said that PCI will continue working with its coalition partners to educate the general public about the access-to-care crisis facing the United States. In addition, Ms. Sittmann said, PCI and its coalition partners will work harder to convince Senators to stop blocking liability reform.

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Medical Malpractice Bill Fails In Senate

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