Beeeeep: Plug pulled on medical malpractice bill

The legislative prognosis is as bad as it gets for a bill that would allow injured patients to sue doctors for more money.

Rep. Terrance Carroll, a co-sponsor of Senate Bill 164, said he decided to kill the bill in the House Judiciary Committee today. Carroll is also chairman of the committee.

"I knew I didn't have the votes to get the bill out of committee," Carroll, D-Denver, said. "I just decided to put the bill out of its misery. It's been lingering a while."

Though the bill had passed the Senate, it had been stuck in Carroll's committee since March, when two Democrats said they would not support it, leaving him short of votes.

Currently, a person suing for malpractice can recover $300,000 in noneconomic - or "pain and suffering" - damages. The bill would have raised the cap on noneconomic damages to the same amount allowed in general personal-injury cases, now at $468,000.
   
The bill would have allowed injured patients to recover separate damages for "disfigurement and impairment."
   
All damages in medical malpractice cases would still have been capped at $1 million, unless a judge approved a higher award.

The bill had the support of Senate President Peter Groff, D-Denver, and reportedly had the blessing of Gov. Bill Ritter.

The committee voted 7-2 to postpone consideration of the bill until May 9 _ two days after the last day of session.

Though it wasn't an official up-or-down vote, the motion was as good as a stake through the heart for the bill.

Carroll said he wasn't sure if he would resurrect the legislation next year.

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