Immediate Agreement on Capping Medical Malpractice Lawsuit Awards in Nevada Now Seems Unlikely

Disagreement in the Nevada Senate and Assembly over rival plans to end the state's medical malpractice crisis by capping medical liability lawsuits could signal that Gov. Kenny Guinn's (R) "initial hope" for an agreement by July 31 "[is]n't likely," the AP/Las Vegas Sun reports. Early on July 30, the Democrat-controlled Assembly voted 32-10 in favor of a plan that would place a $350,000 cap on non-economic damages. Exceptions to the cap would include cases of gross negligence, death, brain damage, blindness, paraplegia, loss of limbs and sterility. The Assembly-passed plan, which has Guinn's support, "had been promoted only Monday as a compromise agreeable to all," the AP/Sun reports (Riley, AP/Las Vegas Sun, 7/31). However, the compromise "collapse[d]" late on July 30 when a committee in the Republican-controlled Senate voted to remove almost all of the exceptions to the cap, keeping only cases of gross negligence or those in which "clear and convincing" evidence suggests a higher award is merited. That proposal is expected to come up for a vote in the full Senate on July 31. Both houses will then attempt to reach a final compromise in conference committee (Whaley, Las Vegas Review-Journal, 7/31). The lawmakers are meeting for a special legislative session to address the state's malpractice insurance crisis, which started last fall when insurers began increasing premiums for physicians three- and fourfold. Many physicians opted to leave the state, retire early, eliminate services or stop accepting new patients. The "mass resignations" of surgeons also led to the temporary closure of Las Vegas' only trauma center at University Medical Center (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 7/30). See related story on congressional efforts to cap awards in medical malpractice suits.