News in brief - April 7, 2003

Texans support liability cap - Anti-abortion activist found guilty of killing doctor - DeVry buys Ross University

Texans support liability cap

Nearly 70% of Texans surveyed in March said they support a state constitutional amendment to cap noneconomic damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits, according to a telephone poll of 1,001 registered Texas voters in March.

About 40% said a current bill that would cap noneconomic damages at $250,000 is "about right," while 20% of voters said it was "too high." And 75% of those surveyed favored a limit on attorney fees in medical malpractice and other personal injury lawsuits.

The Eppstein Group, a Texas polling and public affairs firm, conducted the survey for the Texas Medical Assn., Texas Hospital Assn. and Texas Alliance for Patient Access.

Anti-abortion activist found guilty of killing doctor

Erie County (N.Y.) Court judge Michael D'Amico in mid-March found anti-abortion activist James Kopp, 48, guilty of the second-degree murder of ob-gyn Barnett Slepian, MD, in Amherst, N.Y., in 1998. A sentencing hearing is scheduled for May 9. Kopp faces from 25 years to life in prison.

Kopp's attorney argued that Kopp had acted "in the defense of the unborn living," but prosecutors called what Kopp did "religious terrorism."

Kopp still faces a federal trial on charges of interfering with the right to an abortion and the nonfatal shooting of a doctor in Canada, Reuters news service reported.

DeVry buys Ross University

DeVry Inc. has agreed to pay $310 million to buy Ross University, which runs a medical school and a veterinary school in the Caribbean.

DeVry, based in Oakbrook Terrace, Ill., announced the agreement in March and said the acquisition should be final in June. Officials said Ross University would become the third division of DeVry, joining DeVry University and Becker Conviser Professional Review.

Ross University, headquartered in Edison, N.J., has an enrollment of about 2,500 students. School officials said the ownership change would not alter campus and clinical locations or academic programs.