Frist thwarted in effort to limit medical malpractice awards


By LARRY BIVINS
Tennessean Washington Bureau WASHINGTON

Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist suffered a major setback yesterday in his campaign to cap the amount of money juries can award in medical malpractice cases.

Democrats rallied enough votes to defeat the Nashville Republican's move to bypass committee consideration and bring legislation to limit liability directly to the Senate floor. Frist fell 11 votes shy of the 60 he needed to begin debate and later withdrew the measure.

The bill would have limited pain and suffering awards to $250,000 and punitive damages to $250,000 or twice the amount of economic losses, whichever was greater. A similar measure passed the House in March. 

Frist, the Senate's only physician, and other Republicans maintain that the damage caps are necessary to reduce frivolous lawsuits. They contend hat such suits are driving up insurance premiums, driving doctors out of practice and thereby reducing access to quality care. ''It's a sad day for patients and access to quality care, but Senator Frist and others are committed to patient access and will continue to look for ways to address this issue,'' said Frist spokesman Nick Smith.

Clarksville resident Earlene Burney said she and 30 other victims of medical negligence came to Washington for two days this week to lobby against the bill. Burney said her mother died in 1998 as a result of negligence and  abuse at a nursing home.

''I'm certainly disappointed in our senators from Tennessee for their complete disregard for people who are victims of malpractice,'' Burney said. Although she believes she won yesterday, Burney said opponents must ''remain vigilant — lobbying and pushing and pointing out our rights.''

Democrats contend that greedy insurance companies, not trivial lawsuits, are to blame for any depletion of doctors. They contend that the Senate bill would have deprived victims of egregious medical errors just compensation.

The issue drew intense lobbying from both sides, with the American Medical Association and the American Hospital Association being the big guns supporting the GOP-sponsored bill. The Association of Trial Lawyers of America backed the Democrats' position.

Addressing medical malpractice has long been a priority for Frist, along with providing prescription drugs for seniors, combating the AIDS epidemic and ensuring health care access for everyone.

But the Republican leader has come under sharp criticism for his role as a legislator on medical and health-care issues because of his financial ties to HCA Inc., the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain. HCA was founded by Frist's father and older brother. He placed millions of dollars worth of HCA stock in a blind trust when he was elected in 1994.

Such criticism resurfaced this week as Frist tried to steer the medical malpractice bill through the Senate. On Monday, three grass-roots organizations — Tennessee Citizen Action, Tennessee Disability Coalition and Tennessee Healthcare Campaign — noted that Frist and his family would benefit financially from liability limits and urged him to recuse himself from the debate and vote.

Frist spokesman Smith responded that the Senate Ethics Committee already has ruled that Frist has no conflict ''and Tennesseans know that Senator Frist's greatest concern is quality health care and affordable health care for all Americans.'' 

Frist also heard from consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who in a three-page letter to the senator yesterday derided the arguments for capping medical malpractice awards. Nader said there is little evidence to support GOP claims of a crisis.