Physicians win award cap as Texas passes tort reform

Doctors are still lobbying the Senate to take action at the federal level.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. June 23, 2003.

Texas has joined a growing number of states beefing up tort reform. Earlier this month, lawmakers in the state adopted the $250,000 cap on noneconomic damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits that physicians have been pushing for locally and nationally.

This cap on what are commonly known as pain and suffering awards will apply per event. For example, if a patient and the patient's wife or parents sue a physician or several physicians in connection with a medical malpractice incident, they could still only receive a total of $250,000 in noneconomic damages between them.

"It is really meaningful tort reform, and we believe it will have a beneficial effect," said Spencer Berthelsen, MD, who practices internal medicine in Houston and is the chair of the Texas Medical Assn.'s Council on Legislation.

Texas courts have found caps unconstitutional in the past, so companion legislation will ask Texas voters on Sept. 13 to approve a constitutional change that would make the award limit legal. In addition to the caps, the legislation will tighten expert witness requirements and allow physicians to pay medical expense damages over time instead of in one lump sum.

"It's a major victory," said Linda Villarreal, MD, an Edinburg, Texas, internist.

At press time, Gov. Rick Perry was set to sign the bill. The law would go into effect Sept. 1.

Texas is one of 18 states the American Medical Association says is experiencing a medical liability crisis, with physicians leaving the state, retiring early or discontinuing high-risk services because they can't find or can't afford professional liability insurance.