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House passes bill limiting jury awards
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The House of Representatives today overwhelmingly passed legislation that caps jury awards for a malpractice victim’s pain and suffering at $350,000. Earlier today, the House shot down a $750,000 cap on jury awards by a single vote.
The tort reform bill now moves immediately to the Senate, which passed a similar version last month and could adopt the House bill later today.
The House debated the contentious issue for three hours before deciding the issue of capping damage awards in medical malpractice lawsuits. The House initially voted 88-83 against an amendment to cap awards at $750,000, with exceptions for wrongful death and catastrophic injury cases.
The House then voted 85-82 to reconsider the amendment and, voting on it for the final time, defeated it by a 86-85 vote.
Rep. Barry Fleming (R-Harlem), chair of the Special Committee on Civil Justice Reform, spoke out against the $750,000 cap saying it had loopholes big enough “to drive a truck through.” But a number of Republicans, such as the amendment’s sponsor, Rep. Wendell Willard (R-Atlanta), said such a cap is more fair to victims of malpractice.
Ultimately, the House approved by a 136-34 vote an amendment by Speaker Glenn Richardson (R-Hiram) to set a cap on pain and suffering awards at $350,000, or up to $1.05 million in multi-defendant cases. Another amendment by Richardson to make it less difficult for malpractice victims to prevail in lawsuits in emergency room cases also passed easily.
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