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Two Republican sponsored medical malpractice bills do not gain enough votes to advance during the first day of the GOP's "health week." See story from All Headline News See vote See vote
A controversial bill that would have created a $140 billion asbestos compensation fund failed to achieve enough votes for Senate consideration dealing a heavy blow to backers' hopes for passage of the measure this year. Companies that had used asbestos paid billions of dollars to settle health claims, but as the number of claimants soared in the 1980s and 1990s, many defendants opted to file for bankruptcy protection. The legislation would call for asbestos defendants and their insurers to contribute billions to a fund, which, over the coming decades, would pay out an estimated $140 billion in claims. Opponents of the plan, including insurance industry interests, trial lawyers and some small businesses, had condemned the measure on a variety of grounds. See story from Chicago Tribune See vote
The House passed a bill that would take away lawyers' licenses if they repeatedly file frivolous lawsuits, the latest in a Republican drive to crack down on what they consider costly abuses of the legal system. See story from Associated Press See vote
The House approved a bill that would cap noneconomic damages in medical malpractice cases to $250,000 for plaintiffs. The measure was the third version to pass the House in the past three years. The previous two measures died in the Senate. See story from Washington Times See vote
Doctors and insurance companies are wrong to blame the U.S. medical malpractice crisis on a supposed explosion of lawsuits and skyrocketing jury awards, say new studies. Although premiums have increased, the contention that increased patient claims and higher jury verdicts have anything to do with the rate hikes is incorrect according to a new study. Claims payments have increased only 1.7 percent per year after adjusting for inflation over the past 12 years and actually have fallen an average of 2.4 percent per year since 2001. See story from Newswire.com
The House followed the Senate in approving the class action reform measure. The class-action measure authorizes federal courts to hear class-action suits involving over $5 million and involving persons or companies from different states. The bill would also crack down on "coupon settlements" in which plaintiffs get little but their lawyers get big fees. It would link lawyers' fees to the amount of coupons redeemed. See story from Salon.com See Senate vote See House vote
Eighty percent of U.S. doctors and half of nurses surveyed said they had seen colleagues make mistakes, but only 10 percent ever spoke up. See story from Reuters
A Senate bill to create a multibillion-dollar trust fund for people suffering from asbestos-related diseases failed in a test vote. Republicans were not able to muster enough support in the Senate to force Democrats to consider a plan to give businesses immunity from asbestos lawsuits in exchange for a $124 billion trust fund to speed money to sick people. See story from Washington Post
Senate Republicans lost a third attempt to curb medical malpractice lawsuits but said they would keep forcing votes on an issue they blame for rising health care costs. See story from Washington Post
Senate Republicans failed to win approval for legislation limiting damages in medical malpractice lawsuits, even after adopting an approach that targeted only litigation involving obstetricians and gynecologists. See story from Washington Post See vote
By enabling the many to sue as one, class-action lawsuits have reshaped the nation's economic and social landscape, upholding civil rights in some cases while delivering dollar-off coupons in others. A Chicago Tribune analysis of more than 300 state and federal class-action settlements over the past three years shows that nearly one-third prompted reforms of improper practices--from forced overtime to the use of inferior auto parts in repairs. But the Tribune also found that in nearly one out of 10 cases, victims received awards of little economic value, while their lawyers reaped substantial cash fees. See story from Chicago Tribune
The House voted 276-139 to ban class action lawsuits that contend food companies and their offerings are responsible for Americans' putting on the pounds and lurching toward obesity. See story from Washington Post See vote
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