Senate Rejects Award Limits in Malpractice

[Rose Siding]

The Senate on Monday once again rebuffed a Republican effort to limit jury awards in medical malpractice cases, taking the issue — a high priority for both President Bush and the majority leader, Senator Bill Frist — off the agenda for this year.

In back-to-back votes, Republicans fell far short of the 60 senators necessary to proceed on two malpractice-related measures. The first would have capped jury awards in all lawsuits against doctors and health care institutions; the second would have applied caps only to cases involving obstetricians, who have been especially hard-hit by malpractice rates.

Three Republicans — Senators Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, Michael D. Crapo of Wyoming and Richard C. Shelby of Alabama — joined with Democrats in blocking the measures from consideration. It was the fourth time in the past three years that Republicans had tried, and failed, to bring medical malpractice legislation to a vote in the Senate.
....
"The explanation for these premium spikes can be found not in legislative halls or courtrooms, but in the boardrooms," said one Democratic opponent, Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts.

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/09/washington/09malpractice.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

[Maddy McCall]

1. Good!!

[napi21]

2. Thanks, once again, Teddy! You're not perfect, but you're

a hell of a great Senator for the people of the US! O can't begin to count the things that are good that wouldn't exist if it weren't for you, and I couldn't count, nor could we even find out how many bad things you stopped!

[eleny]

3. What a relief!

[nicknameless]

4. Excellent!

k+r

[underpants]

5. TOrt reform is dead too??? A brother they have almost nothing left

W has been dropping that into every speech since the *cough* election and now POOF it is gone.

Lame duck lameduck

[Hubert Flottz]

6. Lame duck lameduck

The lameducks Lame Ducks can't even save their QUACKS! Quackery is the cause of the court cases not lawyers...Kennedy is spot on! The GOP wants to pass everything on to the consumer even the blame for their greed!

[ShockediSay]

7. Why don't they try to limit damages of congressional malpractice?

...by limiting the fees paid to, and contributions paid by, the lobby lawyers