Georgia
Senate Approves Medical Malpractice Reform
February
15, 2005ATLANTA
- Georgia lawmakers settled three years of arguing about medical malpractice laws
Monday when the Senate agreed to place a $350,000 cap on pain-and-suffering awards
for people hurt by negligent doctors. The
bill makes sweeping changes to the rules for people suing doctors for malpractice,
changes aimed at shielding doctors from expensive or frivolous lawsuits. Doctors
have long argued that they're being run out of business by high malpractice insurance
rates. The
Senate originally voted to cap pain-and-suffering awards at $250,000, a limit
the doctors and their insurers wanted. But the House raised that cap to $350,000,
and after a failed attempt last week, the Senate agreed to that change Monday.
The agreement means the bill awaits only the governor's signature to become law. The
bill's author, Republican Sen. Preston Smith of Rome, told senators the bill wasn't
perfect but said it was time to stop debating the matter. "This bill is the
right thing for us to do today," he said. Senators agreed, 38-15. In
addition to capping some awards, the malpractice bill also tightens rules for
experts who testify against doctors and sets up incentives for patients to settle
out of court. Consumer
advocacy groups, including the state AARP, and many lawyers opposed the malpractice
bill, saying it went too far to protect doctors at the expense of patients. The
bill was one of the most heavily lobbied in recent years, with powerful groups
on both sides warning of disaster if lawmakers voted the wrong way. Some senators
acknowledged they were aggressively lobbied during the weekend to change their
minds and agree to the House bill. "The
weekend was kind of rough," said Sen. Steve Thompson, D-Powder Springs, who
tried and failed to persuade colleagues to disagree on the bill, which would've
extended negotiations. Among
those who switched votes was Sen. Cecil Staton, R-Macon, who had voted against
the House version last week. Staton
was lobbied before the vote by a Macon couple whose daughter died in 1998 after
receiving an improper injection at a doctor's office. Robert
and Marcia Robinson won about $1.2 million in pain-and-suffering damages in their
negligence suit. Clutching a photograph of her daughter in a cheerleading outfit,
Marcia Robinson said at the Capitol on Monday that capping such damages "makes
you feel like your rights as a citizen are being taken away." Sen.
Robert Brown, D-Macon, said the vote was a victory for corporate interests over
those of ordinary taxpayers. "This
is bad, bad legislation," he said. "Probably some of it is going to
be contested in the courts, but it won't be long before people realize that their
rights have been given away." Brown
said the huge swing in the Senate vote from Thursday to Monday was the result
of a "full-court press" by Republican leaders. Eight Republicans and
two Democrats changed their votes from "no" to "yes." Brown
said the close vote on amendments in the House and the reluctance to agree at
first in the Senate was a sign that legislators were conflicted about the bill,
especially the caps provision. He said the coalition of business, insurance and
medical interests backing the bill wanted to see it pushed through without going
to a conference committee, where those misgivings might have led to major changes. "They
didn't want democracy fully at play," Brown said. The
final version of the bill generally went in favor of the doctors. Other changes
in the bill include a provision shielding hospitals from paying when contracting
doctors, not staff members, commit malpractice. The bill also toughens the burden
for patients trying to sue emergency room doctors. In
a nod to patient safety groups, the bill also requires doctors to report all malpractice
claims against them, not just claims over $10,000, as required now. The bill also
calls for a medical board investigation of any doctor who pays three or more malpractice
claims, addressing patient complaints that some doctors repeatedly pay malpractice
claims without ever losing their medical license. Consumer
groups said those rules weren't enough to make the bill a good deal for patients.
They have argued that insurers, not lawsuits, are to blame for high malpractice
premiums. "Everyone
loses in this bill except insurance companies," said Allison Wall, head of
consumer group Georgia Watch. Some
of the rules apply to all businesses, not just hospitals and doctors. The bill
calls for defendants to pay only their portion of the blame when something goes
wrong, so a big company with lots of money wouldn't have to pay 95 percent of
a settlement when the company was only 5 percent responsible. The
Georgia Chamber of Commerce was among the groups pushing hard for the malpractice
bill, and president George Israel called its passage a victory for all businesses. "I
think it's a great day for Georgia," he said after the vote. But
many Democrats insisted the bill was flawed, and that it would hurt people already
injured by negligent doctors. In
particular, some objected to the emergency room part of the bill, saying the new
rule would make it too hard to win a lawsuit against a bad emergency doctor. "This
really is mission impossible for plaintiffs in this state," said Sen. David
Adelman, a Democrat. He called the emergency room rule "a serious, serious
defect." Bill
sponsors conceded that more bills may be considered on the malpractice question,
though they stopped short of promising anything. The
House sponsor, Republican Rep. Barry Fleming of Harlem, said only, "I've
never seen us pass a bill that we didn't tinker with later." The
bill now heads to the desk of Republican Gov. Sonny Perdue, who has not said whether
he'll sign it but agrees generally with the malpractice changes backed by doctors.
Bill sponsors said they expected he would sign it into law. The
bill would "improve our access to quality and affordable health care,"
Smith said. |