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23 mai, 2007 19:48

Gary D. Robertson
The Associated Press
05-23-2007

In a turnaround from previous years, both doctors and lawyers in North Carolina are supporting a bill that would cap monetary damages at $1 million in some medical malpractice cases.

Both the North Carolina Medical Society and the N.C. Academy of Trial Lawyers support a bill, approved in the House by a wide margin Monday night, that caps monetary damages in negligence cases at $1 million, but only for those who agree to go to binding arbitration.

"This is significant because smaller cases could be fast-tracked and get over with quicker," said Dick Taylor, chief executive of the trial lawyers academy.

The agreement is a marked change from previous years, when physicians have blamed rising malpractice insurance premiums on multimillion-dollar awards by runaway juries, of which lawyers usually receive a percentage. Trial attorneys wouldn't agree to award limits sought by doctors and hospitals, saying patients need financial protection for mistakes by the truly worst physicians.

"We've been walking on a circle on this issue for several years," Rep. Ray Rapp, D-Madison, a bill sponsor, said before the measure was approved by a vote of 110-3. "You can almost not talk about it because the passions are so strong."

Lawmakers and both sides were hopeful that the current bill, finalized after weeks of negotiations and modeled on a Washington state law passed last year, will signal a new era of cooperation.

"I think everybody is cautiously optimistic," said Chip Baggett, a medical society lobbyist. "This is just a small baby step ... but it is a small baby step in the right direction."

Under the bill, plaintiffs and defendants in a patient negligence lawsuit against a doctor or hospital could agree to settle their case under binding arbitration. The two sides could agree on an arbitrator or ask a court to select one.

The measure lays out how the arbitration would occur, with legislators seeking hearings to begin no later than 10 months after agreeing to enter the procedure. The arbitrator would have to issue a decision within two weeks of the hearing's close, with all monetary damages limited to $1 million. Appeals would be very limited.

The bill now heads to the Senate. A final edition also would have to go to Gov. Mike Easley's desk to become law.

An average of 600 medical malpractice lawsuits have been filed annually in North Carolina courts from 1998 to 2006, with the yearly totally falling in recent years, according to an academy report based on state court data.

Only about 4 percent of the cases actually receive a jury verdict, with patients winning about one in every five. The median award was a little more than $300,000, the report said, although that doesn't include out-of-court settlements and some awards that were in the millions.

"We've been looking for ways to lower health care costs and provide doctors with an equitable arena for a settlement in a timely fashion," Rapp said.

The medical malpractice issue isn't white hot as it was earlier this decade, when the state Senate held a special session in September 2003 to pass a comprehensive reform bill and the House created a blue-ribbon commission that recommended changes the following year.

While these efforts have led to incremental changes, the main obstacle has remained a cap on awards. Doctors have wanted a $250,000 cap on non-economic damages -- such as pain and suffering, and disfigurement -- but the attorneys firmly said no.

"We've been in this win-lose struggle where the costs of the reforms on the table have been more ... for more catastrophically injured patients," Taylor said. "It was a nonstarter."