Malpractice bill passes Senate

The NJ Legislature is on budget break during April, so there is no activity to report. We repeat here last Tuesday's recap of the malpractice bill for those who may have missed it.

Some 15 malpractice, insurance, liability limitation and other bills were combined into one bill, S-1570, on Monday and released as a committee substitute for the original bill. The bill then moved on to the Senate Floor where it was posted for Thursday's voting session. After much debate S-1570 was substituted by another bill, S-2174, which was itself substituted by A-50. A-50 was then amended and placed back on 2nd Reading. By rule, this would have to stay there for at least two days, but since this was likely the last legislative session for at least a month, the amended bill was moved back to the floor for a 3rd Reading (passage) vote by virtue of an Emergency Resolution, which passed 36-0. The bill itself was then passed by the Senate by a vote of 32-5. The bill now moves to the Assembly where it meets an uncertain fate, given that Speaker Sires has indicated that it may be dead on arrival. Look for some interesting sessions on this in the Assembly in May.

See the press release section below for other comments on the passage. Senator Vitale's press release does a very good job of detailing the provision of the initial S-1570 legislation and we recommend its reading for those who would like more detail but, in summary, the bill includes these major provisions:

  • Caps "pain and suffering" awards to $1,000,000 with the first $300,000 coming from the doctor's insurance plan and the balance from a state fund. The fund would itself be built upon annual surcharges on lawyers and healthcare practicioners.
  • Early dispute resolution provisions
  • Establishes expert witness qualifications
  • Provides immunity in Good Samaritan situations
  • Stiffens reporting requirement for physician misconduct
  • Established a medical error reporting system
  • Requires Banking & Insurance reviews of rate increases
  • Requires insurers to report information on medical malpractice judgments and settlement to the B&I Department.

    Press accounts have indicated that Assembly Speaker Albio Sires (D-Hudson) has indicated that in its present form the bill, which has the support of the NJ Medical Society, may be dead on arrival due to the bills malpractice limits.

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