U.S. Senate Malpractice Claim Limit Bill Hits A Snag

However, he said, liability reform remains an important issue. Hopefully, Mr. Karr said, efforts will continue this year to resolve the crisis.

Carl Parks, senior vice president of federal government relations with the Des Plaines, Ill.-based Property Casualty Insurers Association of America, added that the vote "demonstrates that moving liability reform legislation in the Senate remains an uphill battle."

"PCI hopes that the Senate vote will not result in Congress losing its desire to apply sensible reforms to the full spectrum of American health care in order to ensure both the accessibility and quality of health care, health coverage and medical innovation," Mr. Parks said.

S. 2061 was sidetracked when only 48 senators voted to invoke cloture, 12 votes short of the 60 needed.

The legislation would apply only to obstetrical and gynecological goods and services, which have faced particular problems with rising medical malpractice insurance premiums.

Under the bill, non-economic damages in obstetrical/gynecological cases would be capped at $250,000. Punitive damages would be capped at $250,000 or two times economic damages, whichever is greater.

The legislation also establishes a test for the award of punitive damages. Specifically, punitive damages could only be awarded if the plaintiff proves that the defendant acted with "malicious intent" to cause the injury or deliberately failed to take steps that could have avoided the injury.

The legislation also establishes a statute of limitations for filing ob/gyn malpractice claims, allows courts to restrict the payment of contingency fees to plaintiffs' lawyers, and permits courts to reduce compensatory awards by any amounts received by claimants from collateral sources.