Posted on 02/11/2005 6:12:23 AM PST by Ravi
Sweeping civil justice legislation that limits medical malpractice jury awards is all but assured of enactment after an agonizingly close vote Thursday in the Georgia House of Representatives.
By an 86-85 vote, the House rejected an amendment that would have imposed no limits on jury awards for patients killed or catastrophically injured by a doctor's negligence — a provision opponents said would have gutted the legislation.
The House then approved a bill capping jury awards for pain and suffering — beyond recovering lost wages or medical bills — at $350,000, or up to $1.05 million if multiple defendants are found liable.
The legislation went immediately to the Senate, which failed by a single vote to adopt the House bill.
Lawmakers from both the Senate and the House said Thursday they are confident a compromise will be reached.
"This has been a very good day for us," said Joseph Parker, president of the Georgia Hospital Association.
The roller-coaster votes followed hours of impassioned debate in the House and months of high-stakes, aggressive lobbying by the medical and business community on one side and consumer groups and trial lawyers on the other.
Health care providers contend that limits on jury awards are needed to hold down malpractice insurance premiums they say are driving doctors out of Georgia.
Victims advocates say the restrictions on juries prevent injured patients from being fully compensated in court.
Throughout the day, doctors in white smocks and trial lawyers in suits lined the Capitol's corridors, pressing lawmakers for attention.
The most closely contested amendment to the bill was offered by two Republican lawmakers from Atlanta, Wendell Willard and Edward Lindsey Jr. They suggested capping pain-and-suffering jury awards at $750,000, with exceptions for wrongful death and catastrophic injuries.
Bill Rankin seems to be a good writer. In the past 3 or 4 articles for AJC on this topic, he's been amazingly even handed in his approach. We need more journalists like this.
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