Voters Split Over Malpractice Awards

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Doctors and trial lawyers spent millions of dollars in an unprecedented, four-state election battle over limiting damage awards and attorney fees in malpractice cases. The voters' verdict: a virtual stalemate reflecting deeply divided public opinion.



Doctors vowed to keep pressing their cause, hoping President Bush (news - web sites)'s re-election and Republican gains in Congress might weaken Democratic opposition to federal legislation capping malpractice awards.


"We will continue to be relentless in our fight," said Dr. John Nelson, president of the American Medical Association. "We look forward to working with President Bush to fix America's broken liability system."


Both the AMA and the trial lawyers had hoped to come away from Election Day declaring that the public — given a rare chance to pass judgment on the dispute — was on their side. Instead, the outcome was indisputably a split decision.


In Wyoming and Oregon, voters narrowly defeated doctor-backed proposals to implement caps on awards — results were almost 50-50 in each state. Nevada voters approved a cap and Florida voters supported limits on attorneys' fees, but Floridians also approved two lawyer-backed proposals intended to benefit malpractice victims.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=post&forum=102