GOVERNMENT

Measure stalls in Senate: "We'll be back," say tort reformers

The AMA says the bipartisan offering in the Durbin-Graham bill won't solve the crisis facing physicians and their patients.

By Tanya Albert, AMNews staff. July 28, 2003.

Physicians, insurers and other tort reform backers say the recent Senate vote blocking a measure that included a $250,000 noneconomic damages cap on medical malpractice lawsuits isn't a sign of gloom and doom.

If anything, it seems to have strengthened proponents' resolve to see federal legislation enacted.

Republican Senate leaders are currently discussing their next move in the tort reform battle, and supporters say the chamber could revisit the issue as early as this fall.

"Medical liability is going to pass at the federal level," AMA President Donald J. Palmisano, MD, said. "It's a question of when, not if."

"This is a stop along the road," added Richard Anderson, MD, chair of The Doctors Company, a physician-owned, national medical liability insurer. "I am not discouraged."

In fact, advocates say there are several reasons to be encouraged. President George W. Bush supports legislation. The House of Representatives in March passed a bill that includes a $250,000 noneconomic damages cap. And a Gallup poll shows that 72% of Americans favor caps on noneconomic damages.

"The only people we haven't convinced are the Democrats in the Senate," Dr. Anderson said. "When they go home, I think they will find that their constituents want this."

With physicians continuing to leave medicine because of high insurance rates, both sides acknowledge that the issue won't be going away anytime soon. During Senate floor debate, Republicans said they would make tort reform a campaign issue.

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